Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $49.07 Million in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 365,234 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $49,066,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned about 0.13% of Agilent Technologies as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CKW Financial Group increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE A traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $108.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,362,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,881,284. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $113.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.27. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

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.