Ecofi Investissements SA Invests $777,000 in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ecofi Investissements SA acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 6,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000. Agilent Technologies makes up approximately 0.4% of Ecofi Investissements SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $274,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,906 shares of company stock valued at $2,006,580 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.9 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $148.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $138.91 and a 200 day moving average of $138.99. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.93.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.