6,958 Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Purchased by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,958 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,204,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 640.0% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 51,066 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $320,000. Finally, JT Stratford LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on A. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE A traded down $1.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $111.86. 770,089 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,940,153. The stock has a market cap of $31.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $108.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 17.59%. Agilent Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 24.44%.

Agilent Technologies Profile

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.