Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Purchases 58,902 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 77.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 135,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,902 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $18,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $144.77 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.99.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

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.