PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co Buys Shares of 3,600 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,600 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $46,500,000. Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $5,822,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $563,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.15.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A traded down $1.00 on Monday, reaching $110.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,757,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,928,828. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $153.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business's 50-day moving average price is $108.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.27. The company has a market cap of $31.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.23.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

About Agilent Technologies

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.