New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,225 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,664,000.
A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of A. Sienna Gestion lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $10,537,000 after buying an additional 17,991 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,554,000 after buying an additional 2,664 shares during the period. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,843,000 after buying an additional 10,128 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,892,000 after buying an additional 3,915 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,621,000 after buying an additional 6,802 shares during the period.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A has been the topic of several research reports. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.15.
Get Our Latest Report on Agilent Technologies
Insider Activity
In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 Stock Performance
A traded down $1.94 on Friday, hitting $116.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,651,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,712. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $109.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.38. The firm has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month 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.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. Agilent Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.
Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend
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 given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.44%.
About Agilent Technologies
(
Free Report)
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.
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