Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Noesis Capital Mangement Corp

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp lessened its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,639 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,277 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies comprises 3.7% of Noesis Capital Mangement Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $15,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% in the 3rd quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in 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 in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock traded up $1.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $139.45. 1,097,922 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,239,688. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $141.92 and its 200-day moving average is $131.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $151.58. The stock has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased 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 report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $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.