Dudley & Shanley Inc. Makes New $8.30 Million Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 55,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,300,000. Agilent Technologies accounts for 1.3% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $134.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,189,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,734,761. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.85 and a 200-day moving average of $136.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $38.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.