Investment House LLC Sells 230 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Investment House LLC lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,020 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 246.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,087,000 after buying an additional 38,737 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 77.7% in 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 increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% during the third 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 position 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 grew its stake in 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 worth $3,208,000 after buying an additional 13,352 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on A. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI lifted 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 note on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price 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 equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $139.59 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $151.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.02. The company has a market capitalization of $40.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

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.