Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 29,097 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 820.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,642 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,097 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Column Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the 3rd quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on A shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE A traded up $0.84 during trading on Thursday, hitting $145.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 719,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,119. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market cap of $42.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $140.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.62. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

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.