Aviva PLC Has $35.08 Million Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Aviva PLC cut its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 17,666 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $35,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 32,943,190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,004,242,000 after purchasing an additional 629,153 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,955,720 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,033,368,000 after purchasing an additional 257,455 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,152,295 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,598,661,000 after purchasing an additional 73,495 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,478,670 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $787,483,000 after purchasing an additional 627,517 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,336,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $309,203,000 after purchasing an additional 942,651 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $128.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $38.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.03. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.52 and a fifty-two week high of $160.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.13 and a 200-day moving average of $144.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 23rd. The medical research company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 19.09%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 3rd will be given a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on A. Barclays initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.64.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

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Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level.