Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Acquired by Natixis

Natixis lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 60.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,429 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,920 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,250,276,000 after acquiring an additional 59,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 47,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $456,963,000. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $445,546,000 after purchasing an additional 17,627 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on A. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. 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 research report 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 for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven 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, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:A traded down $0.71 on Friday, hitting $106.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,120,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,870,390. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $116.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $30.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.19. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. 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 0.93%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.