Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,982 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,168,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 42.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 139,144 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $16,277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 17,900 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 2,080 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 286.2% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $119.80. 2,752,373 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,924,469. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $153.84. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $108.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.69. The firm has a market cap of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid 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 0.83%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.44%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.