Findlay Park Partners LLP Buys 193,647 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Findlay Park Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,151,410 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 193,647 shares during the quarter. Agilent Technologies comprises about 1.6% of Findlay Park Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Findlay Park Partners LLP owned 0.39% of Agilent Technologies worth $160,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,076,270 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,238,549,000 after purchasing an additional 39,030 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,146,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,134 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,097,313 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $458,162,000 after purchasing an additional 254,998 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,749,857 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $382,313,000 after purchasing an additional 153,630 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 233.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $370,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company'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 transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $4.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.76. The stock had a trading volume of 2,246,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,307,337. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.68. The company has a market capitalization of $43.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $152.81.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI boosted 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 report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $141.29.

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.