Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Increases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 123.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,962 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 93,250 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 0.06% of Agilent Technologies worth $23,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in A. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Column Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% in the 3rd quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Bank of America downgraded Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $133.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.71.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A traded up $2.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $144.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,655,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,934. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. The company has a market cap of $42.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.31, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $139.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.89.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.