Strategic Global Advisors LLC Buys 999 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Strategic Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Strategic Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $94,051,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $80,110,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 280.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 806,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $108,398,000 after purchasing an additional 594,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $563,259,000 after buying an additional 457,713 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $113.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.17. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $154.95. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $32.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.27.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Agilent Technologies 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.