Retireful LLC Makes New $2.33 Million Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 16,738 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,327,000. Agilent Technologies accounts for about 1.0% of Retireful LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,978.6% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 291 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on A. Bank of America downgraded Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.71.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:A traded up $2.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $144.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,655,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,934. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.