Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Makes New Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 140,767 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $18,911,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $1.14 on Thursday, hitting $106.46. 1,523,116 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,875,860. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $114.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.34. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio 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.