Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,387,080 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 90,568 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.81% of Agilent Technologies worth $331,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A traded up $1.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $138.70. 850,440 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,538,878. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $141.81 and its 200-day moving average is $131.26. The stock has a market cap of $40.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 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.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 directly owns 9,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. 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.

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.