Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 44.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 35,124 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $15,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 5.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 4.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $535,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $8,300,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $107.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The company has a market capitalization of $30.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.50. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

About Agilent Technologies

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.