Syon Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Syon Capital LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 83.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,498 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 246.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after acquiring an additional 38,737 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 77.7% during the fourth 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 boosted its holdings 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 worth $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 86,355 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 137.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 13,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on A shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $137.69 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $151.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio 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.