Simplicity Wealth LLC Makes New $888,000 Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,105 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $888,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 246.7% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,087,000 after acquiring an additional 38,737 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 86,355 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $7,174,000 after buying an additional 11,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 1,151,410 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $160,081,000 after buying an additional 193,647 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $154.72. 906,241 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,527,536. 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 fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $143.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.13.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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