Primecap Management Co. CA Invests $176.32 Million in Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,327,396 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,318,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of A. State Street Corp raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,681,792 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,725,611,000 after buying an additional 241,029 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,425,861 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,006,519,000 after acquiring an additional 25,139 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,008,634 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $930,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,516 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 87.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,233,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $695,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440,360 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,041,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $686,049,000 after purchasing an additional 692,202 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.24.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $154.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $138.55 and its 200 day moving average is $126.47. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $108.35 and a one year high of $160.51.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The medical research company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 24.33% and a net margin of 19.55%.Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, consumables, software and services for laboratories across the life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets. The company’s product portfolio includes analytical instruments such as liquid and gas chromatographs, mass spectrometers, spectroscopy systems, and laboratory automation solutions, together with reagents, supplies and informatics tools that support measurement, testing and data analysis workflows. Agilent also offers instrument maintenance, qualification and laboratory services designed to help customers improve productivity and comply with regulatory requirements.

Founded as a corporate spin-off from Hewlett‑Packard in 1999, Agilent has evolved through a combination of strategic restructuring and acquisitions to concentrate on life sciences, diagnostics and applied laboratories.