Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,580 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 59,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in 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 lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 38,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $113.76 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $110.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.16. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $154.95. The firm has a market cap of $32.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company's 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.

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