Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 50,162 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,032,471 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 50,162 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.35% of Agilent Technologies worth $143,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,393 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 25,188 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,817,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,457 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on A. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $154.23. 1,856,998 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,312,196. The stock has a market cap of $45.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.13. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $155.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $143.53 and a 200-day moving average of $134.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

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.