Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 46.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,572 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,125 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $10,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third 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. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 3,180 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last ninety days.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 3.9 %

A stock traded up $5.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $139.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,979,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,580,745. The company has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month 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. The firm's 50-day moving average is $141.21 and its 200-day moving average is $130.08.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on A shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 note on Friday, April 5th. 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 note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $141.29.

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.