Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Acquired by LMR Partners LLP

LMR Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 56.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,466 shares during the quarter. LMR Partners LLP’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,250,276,000 after buying an additional 59,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $938,291,000 after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after acquiring an additional 47,495 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $596,026,000 after purchasing an additional 38,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 8.0%

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $115.53 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $111.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% 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.