GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 15,648.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 627,247 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 623,264 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.22% of Agilent Technologies worth $73,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 9,698 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,982 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,036 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,506 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.15.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business'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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A traded up $1.96 on Friday, hitting $115.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,556,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,351. The stock has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 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. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $108.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.95. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $153.84.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.