Cerity Partners LLC Buys 49,387 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 99.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,907 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,387 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $11,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,997,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,012,086,000 after acquiring an additional 589,219 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 10.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,227,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,560,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,994 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,319,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $860,137,000 after purchasing an additional 115,183 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 15.9% in the second quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 5,775,860 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $681,609,000 after purchasing an additional 792,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,836,105 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $448,748,000 after purchasing an additional 604,124 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.99, for a total value of $464,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 31,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,811.54. The trade was a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total transaction of $130,491.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 32,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,591,987.92. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 16,401 shares of company stock worth $2,468,962 over the last ninety days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on A. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $142.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.77.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $143.51 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $145.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.71. The firm has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.27. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $160.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The medical research company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 25.20%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Agilent Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.380 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.860-6.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 21.66%.

About Agilent Technologies

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.