Live Oak Investment Partners Invests $603,000 in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,156 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after acquiring an additional 59,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $938,291,000 after buying an additional 53,992 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $700,414,000 after buying an additional 47,495 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $596,026,000 after acquiring an additional 38,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $119.69. 1,487,990 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,883,156. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $153.84. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on A shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.92.

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.