Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Makes New Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third 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 buying an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $396,088,000 after acquiring an additional 203,234 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,386,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $309,302,000 after acquiring an additional 52,550 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 10.0% in the second 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.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $138.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.43. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $39.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.07.

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 given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 21.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.40.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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.