Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Purchases 108 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,160 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,088,000 after purchasing an additional 203,234 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,386,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $309,302,000 after purchasing an additional 52,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,088,644 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $141,131,000 after purchasing an additional 99,080 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $133.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.48 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Profile

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; and vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.