AtonRa Partners Lowers Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

AtonRa Partners lessened its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,122 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. AtonRa Partners’ holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Column Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the 3rd quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

A stock traded up $1.85 during trading on Monday, hitting $139.59. 781,121 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,552,781. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $141.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week 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.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on A. Barclays increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.