Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Purchased by abrdn plc

abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 723,508 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 171,642 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.25% of Agilent Technologies worth $100,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kepos Capital LP grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 41.1% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $132.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,303,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,135. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $151.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.92.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. Agilent Technologies's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $141.29.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, 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 transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.