Eastern Bank Invests $15.82 Million in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 106,534 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,818,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,638,000 after buying an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 23,760 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,528,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 133,612 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.36.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,953 shares of company stock valued at $2,013,630. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock traded down $2.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $133.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 737,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,369. The business has a fifty day moving average of $141.05 and a 200-day moving average of $138.70. The stock has a market cap of $39.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 1.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

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.