Updating Agilent Technologies Inc., Apache Corp. and NCR Corp.

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AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $53 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 322.3 million; Market cap: $17.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agilent.com) makes specialized testing equipment, such as mass spectrometers, for medical research labs and industrial clients. Thanks to recent acquisitions and the launch of new products, the company earned $172 million in its fiscal 2017 first quarter ended January 31, 2017. That’s up 12.4% from $153 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 15.2%, to $0.53 from $0.46. Revenue rose 3.8%, to $1.1 billion from $1.0 billion. Agilent expects to earn $2.13 a share for all of fiscal 2017. The stock trades at 24.9 times the forecast. That’s a reasonable multiple in light of the company’s high level of research spending; it totalled 7.4% of revenue in the latest quarter. The company also gets 55% of its revenue from recurring sources, such as services…