35,812 Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Bought by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 35,812 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,189,000. Agilent Technologies comprises 1.0% of Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 14,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after acquiring an additional 4,998 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of A opened at $117.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $111.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market cap of $33.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 24.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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.