Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Decreases Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded up $5.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $139.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,979,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,580,745. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $141.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.08. The stock has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 4.02 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.