Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 86.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 51,363 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 23,800 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $6,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of A. Sienna Gestion lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,537,000 after acquiring an additional 17,991 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,802 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on A shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. 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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $140.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of A stock opened at $117.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. 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 $33.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50 day moving average is $111.19 and its 200 day moving average is $124.28.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.84%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 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.

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