NBC Securities Inc. Raises Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 113,700.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,276 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 47,495 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $596,026,000 after purchasing an additional 38,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.15.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other 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 transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of A stock traded up $1.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $115.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,556,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,545. The company has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $108.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.93. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The business 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 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm'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, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.