Exploring Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

You're looking at Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) and asking the right question: with the stock trading around a 34.48 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, who is defintely buying this analytical instrument leader, and why are they paying a premium? The short answer is the institutions-they own a massive 87.41% of the company, and their conviction seems to be in the company's ability to deliver on its full-year 2025 revenue guidance of $6.91 billion to $6.93 billion. Here's the quick math: while the high price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 4.67 suggests the stock is expensive relative to its growth, big players like AQR Capital Management LLC still added over 1.65 million shares in Q2 2025, betting that the company's non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $5.56 to $5.59 will be just the start of a sustained growth cycle in life sciences and diagnostics. But is that bet smart, or is the market overhyping a stable performer? That's what we need to unpack.

Who Invests in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) and Why?

If you are looking at Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A), the first thing you need to understand is that this is an institutional favorite, not a retail stock. The vast majority of the company's shares are held by large funds betting on the long-term, secular growth of the life sciences and diagnostics markets.

As of late 2025, institutional investors-the big money like mutual funds, pension funds, and asset managers-own an overwhelming 87.41% to 90.71% of the outstanding shares. Retail investors, the 'you' and 'me' of the market, hold the remainder, which is a small slice of the pie. This high concentration means the stock's price movements are defintely driven by the investment decisions of giants like BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. It's a professional's game here.

The Institutional Juggernaut: Key Investor Types

The investor profile for Agilent is heavily skewed toward institutional players. This isn't surprising for a stable, high-quality company in the essential life sciences sector. It's a core holding for many large portfolios.

• Mutual Funds & Asset Managers: These are the largest holders, seeking stable, long-term growth and a reliable presence in the healthcare and applied chemical markets. They view Agilent's instruments and services as mission-critical infrastructure.
• Hedge Funds: While smaller in overall percentage compared to passive funds, hedge funds are active. Their strategies often involve a long-term growth thesis, though some might use the stock's volatility (its 52-week range is $96.43 to $153.84) for shorter-term trades.
• Retail Investors: Your average individual investor holds a small, but still significant, collective stake. They are typically drawn to the company's strong market position and its status as a dividend challenger.

Here's a quick snapshot of the ownership breakdown as of late 2025:

Investment Motivations: Why the Big Money is Buying

The core investment thesis for Agilent Technologies, Inc. is a blend of predictable growth, a strong market position, and a shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy. They are not chasing a quick buck; they are buying a piece of the 'age of biology.'

• Secular Growth Prospects: The company is positioned in non-cyclical, high-growth areas like diagnostics, pharma, and environmental testing. Management's confidence is clear, with the full-year 2025 revenue guidance revised to a range of $6.91 billion to $6.93 billion, representing core growth of about 4.5% at the midpoint. This is a stable, compounding growth story.
• Recurring Revenue Model: A significant portion of revenue comes from services and consumables (the Agilent CrossLab segment), which provides a high-margin, sticky revenue stream. This predictability is a huge draw for institutional stability.
• Sustainable Dividends: While the forward dividend yield is modest at about 0.67% to 0.68% as of November 2025, the key is its reliability. The company has consistently increased its dividend for 8 years, and the payout ratio is conservative at 25.9% of free cash flow, meaning the dividend is safe and has room to grow.

The market is pricing in future growth, which is why the P/E ratio is high at around 34.67 (in Nov 2025). Here's the quick math: a high Price-to-Earnings-to-Growth (PEG) ratio of 4.67 suggests the stock is expensive relative to its immediate earnings growth, but institutions are clearly betting on an acceleration of that growth beyond the near term. You can learn more about how this business model generates that sticky revenue stream in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

Active Strategies in Play

Given the high institutional ownership, the dominant strategy is a 'buy-and-hold' approach, prioritizing compounding returns over market timing. However, we see three specific strategies driving current activity:

• Long-Term Growth Investing: This strategy is focused on the company's strong position in the life sciences sector, viewing Agilent as a long-duration asset. They are willing to pay a premium today for the expected earnings per share (EPS) in the range of $5.56 to $5.59 for fiscal year 2025, believing the company will grow into its valuation.
• Quality/Defensive Investing: In a volatile market, Agilent's strong balance sheet (quick ratio of 1.71, current ratio of 2.25) makes it a defensive play. Investors are rotating capital into companies that can weather economic uncertainty, and Agilent's essential lab equipment and services fit that bill.
• Value Reassessment: To be fair, some analysts believe the stock is currently undervalued, suggesting a fair value of around $138.17 (September 2025 data). This creates an opportunity for value-oriented investors to buy, especially following quarters where the stock price has lagged, anticipating a catch-up to the raised full-year guidance.

The key takeaway is that the big players are patient, using Agilent as a foundation for their long-term growth and stability objectives. They are buying the future, not just the present.

Institutional Ownership and Major Shareholders of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A)

You're looking at Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) because you know the life sciences and diagnostics sector is a long-term growth story, but you need to see who else is putting serious capital to work. The direct takeaway is this: Agilent is overwhelmingly owned by institutions, which signals a deep, collective conviction in the company's strategic direction, even with its premium valuation. As of late 2025, institutional investors own a staggering 87.41% of the stock, a level that acts as a strong vote of confidence in the company's operational strength.

This high concentration means the stock's price movements are defintely driven by the decisions of large asset managers, not retail sentiment. For a deeper look at the company's foundation, you can check out Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

Top Institutional Investors and Their Stakes

The institutional ownership base of Agilent Technologies, Inc. is dominated by the world's largest passive and active fund managers. These firms hold shares not just for short-term gains, but often as core, long-term holdings in their index funds and diversified portfolios. As of the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 (9/30/2025), the total value of institutional holdings stood at approximately $37,369 million.

Here's the quick math on the top five, who collectively control a significant portion of the outstanding shares:

Recent Ownership Shifts: Increased Conviction vs. Profit-Taking

Looking at the most recent 13F filings from Q3 2025, the picture is one of high activity, though not a stampede in one direction. While the total number of institutional investors with increased positions (473 holders) was slightly higher than those with decreased positions (463 holders), the total number of shares sold (14,921,904) slightly outweighed the shares bought (12,454,511).

Still, several key players significantly boosted their stakes, showing a belief in the company's future growth trajectory. This is a classic sign of investors betting on future earnings over current valuation metrics.

• Generation Investment Management Llp increased its stake by 10.078% in Q3 2025.
• Deutsche Bank Ag boosted its holdings by 15.668% during the same quarter.
• Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC made a substantial increase of 56.9% in Q2 2025, now holding 102,000 shares.

The net selling, where it occurred, likely reflects profit-taking after the stock's strong performance, especially since the institutional ownership percentage remains elevated at over 87%. You see this all the time with stocks that trade at a premium, like Agilent's P/E ratio of 34.67 in late 2025, which is higher than the sector average.

The Role of Large Investors in Stock Price and Strategy

The sheer volume of institutional ownership plays a critical role in both the day-to-day stock price and Agilent's long-term corporate strategy. When nearly nine out of every ten shares are held by large funds, their collective action dictates liquidity and volatility. A high institutional holding often stabilizes the stock, but a sudden, coordinated wave of selling-even by a few major players-can cause a sharp, short-term drop.

More importantly, this institutional backing is a strategic asset. It provides capital stability and validates the management team's direction, especially in areas like R&D investment and M&A activity. For example, the confidence from these major holders comes despite a high price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 4.67, which typically suggests overvaluation relative to earnings growth.

• Strategic Validation: Strong institutional interest, including analyst upgrades like UBS raising its price target to $170, signals market validation of Agilent's dominance in the life sciences/diagnostics sector.
• Operational Confidence: Institutional investors are clearly looking past current valuation, betting on the company's operational strength, which saw Q3 2025 revenue rise 10.1% year-over-year to $1.74 billion.
• Reduced Risk: The broad, diverse institutional backing, from passive index funds to active wealth managers, reduces the risk that the stock is reliant on the strategy of a single major investor.

What this estimate hides is the difference between passive index funds (like Vanguard and Blackrock) and active managers. The passive funds are locked in, but the active managers are the ones making the real, directional bets on future growth. Their continued buying, despite the premium, is the real signal you should watch.

Finance: Track the Q4 2025 13F filings for any major shifts in the top 10 holders by the February 2026 deadline.

Key Investors and Their Impact on Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A)

If you're looking at Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) stock, the first thing to understand is that it's an institutional darling, not a playground for retail traders. Fully 87.41% of the company's stock is held by institutional investors and hedge funds, meaning the big money drives the price action, not the headlines. This high ownership level signals stability, but it also means the stock moves less on individual news and more on large, systematic portfolio rebalancing.

The Dominance of Passive Giants

The investor profile for Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) is dominated by the 'Big Three' index fund managers-Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock, and State Street Corp-who collectively hold a massive, largely passive stake. For instance, Vanguard Group Inc. is one of the most heavily invested institutions, holding a position valued around $4.37 billion. State Street Corp also holds a significant stake, valued at approximately $1.47 billion, acting as a core anchor for the stock.

BlackRock, a firm I know well, is another top holder. As of Q2 2025, one of their affiliates, BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., held 3,795,913 shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) in a single fund. These passive holdings are not about trading; they're about owning a piece of the entire Life Sciences and Diagnostics market, which you can read more about in their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A).

Recent Moves by Active Managers: The 2025 Rotation

While the passive giants provide a floor, the active managers are where you see the conviction-or lack thereof-in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A)'s near-term trajectory. The second quarter of fiscal year 2025 saw some sharp, contradictory moves that are worth watching.

Here's the quick math on the conviction buys: AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC made a massive increase, adding 1,652,244 shares, a staggering 424.1% increase to their portfolio, valued at an estimated $194.98 million. Similarly, AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC added 1,340,161 shares, boosting their position by 132.2%. These aren't minor tweaks; they are strong bets on the company's full-year 2025 revenue guidance of $6.91-$6.93 billion.

But to be fair, not everyone is buying. We saw significant outflows from other large funds in the same period:

• BROWN ADVISORY INC removed 1,487,439 shares, a 96.6% reduction, essentially exiting their position.
• VICTORY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT INC cut their stake by 80.3%, selling 968,620 shares.

This divergence shows a clear split on whether the stock can justify its premium valuation, especially given the price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio stands at a high 4.67.

Investor Influence and the Activist Trend

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) has not been the target of a major, public activist campaign in 2025, but that doesn't mean investors aren't influential. The Healthcare sector, where Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) operates, is a major target for shareholder activism in 2025, accounting for 63% of campaigns alongside Technology and Industrials. This means the big institutional holders are watching capital allocation and operational efficiency very closely.

The influence is often subtle: institutional investors act as 'occasional activists,' pushing for board or strategic changes behind closed doors, especially when a stock's valuation looks stretched relative to its earnings. When a company projects a strong non-GAAP EPS of $5.56-$5.59 for the full fiscal year 2025, institutional investors will demand that management execute flawlessly to earn that premium. Any misstep, and the private engagement can quickly become public pressure.

A final, minor data point to note is the insider activity: President and CEO Padraig McDonnell sold 5,508 shares for an estimated $653,759 in Q2 2025. While not a red flag by itself, insider selling is defintely something to monitor, as it shows where the management's personal capital is going, even as they guide for Q3 2025 revenue of $1.74 billion.

Next step: You need to map the recent institutional accumulation against the company's capital expenditure (CapEx) plan for the next two quarters to see if the big buyers are betting on a specific product cycle.

Market Impact and Investor Sentiment

You're looking at Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) and seeing a stock with a premium valuation, so the first question is always: are the big players still buying? The answer is a resounding 'yes,' which signals a deep institutional conviction in the company's long-term story, despite some near-term valuation stretch. Institutional investors-the mutual funds, pension funds, and endowments-currently own an enormous 87.41% of the company's shares outstanding, a figure that acts as a powerful vote of confidence.

This positive sentiment is not blind optimism, but it does come with a caveat. The stock's Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio sits at about 34.67 in Q3 2025, and its Price-to-Earnings-to-Growth (PEG) ratio is high at 4.67. Here's the quick math: a PEG ratio over 1.0 suggests the stock is expensive relative to its expected earnings growth. Institutions are defintely betting that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will accelerate its growth to justify that price tag. They are looking past today's cost.

The institutional buying pattern in 2025 shows a strategic accumulation, not just passive indexing. For instance, in Q2 2025, Versor Investments LP increased its stake by a substantial 87.6%. This kind of aggressive accumulation tells you that smart money sees a path to outperformance, likely tied to Agilent Technologies, Inc.'s recurring revenue streams and its position in the high-margin diagnostics sector.

• Institutional ownership is 87.41% of shares outstanding.
• Key buyers are increasing stakes by double-digits.
• The high PEG ratio of 4.67 signals premium pricing.

Recent Market Reactions and Ownership Shifts

The stock market has been quick to reward Agilent Technologies, Inc.'s operational strength, and a clear reaction came after the Q3 2025 earnings release. Following the better-than-expected results in August 2025, the stock price jumped 5.3% in a single trading session. This move wasn't just about beating estimates; it was the market pricing in the strong revenue growth of 10.1% year-over-year, which translated to $1.74 billion in quarterly revenue.

Still, you need to watch insider activity as closely as institutional inflows. In a notable move in November 2025, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 12,490 shares for a total of $1,873,500.00, reducing his direct ownership by 27.19%. While this is a substantial dollar amount and percentage change for an individual, it's a small fraction of the overall market capitalization of around $41.65 billion. To be fair, CEO sales can be for personal liquidity, but any major insider reduction should prompt a deeper dive into the company's financial stability, which you can do by reading Breaking Down Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

The market's muted reaction to the insider sale, contrasted with the strong positive reaction to earnings, suggests investors are prioritizing the company's proven operational momentum over individual executive portfolio management. The stock's year-to-date gain of 9.3% in 2025, while slightly under the S&P 500's 14.5% gain, still shows a healthy, positive trend.

Analyst Perspectives on Key Investors' Impact

The analyst community views the strong institutional backing as a stabilizing force, reinforcing a 'Moderate Buy' consensus rating for Agilent Technologies, Inc. This rating is built on nine Strong Buy and seven Hold recommendations, with zero sell ratings, which is a very optimistic configuration. The average price target from analysts is a modest $149.62 to $151.92, but the street-high target is $170.00, indicating a potential upside of up to 15.8% from current levels.

The analysts' optimism is directly tied to the company's financial guidance for the full fiscal year 2025. Management expects full-year revenue to be between $6.91 billion and $6.93 billion, and non-GAAP Earnings Per Share (EPS) to land between $5.56 and $5.59. This projected EPS growth of about 5.5% year-over-year is what institutions are banking on.

The key institutional investors, including top holders like The Vanguard Group and BlackRock, Inc., essentially act as a floor for the stock. Their massive, long-term positions mean that any temporary market dip is likely to be met with continued buying, limiting downside volatility. This stability is a major factor in the bullish analyst view. One clean takeaway: institutional confidence makes the stock less susceptible to short-term noise. The table below summarizes the core financial estimates driving their confidence: