Stephens Inc. AR Raises Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 404.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,022 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 16,054 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 286.2% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 640.0% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on A. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $2.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $115.72. 765,074 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,860,280. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $153.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 24.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $177,099.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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.