Everett Harris & Co. CA Purchases New Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Everett Harris & Co. CA bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,520 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $393,291,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 939.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $256,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,649 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 233.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $370,552,000 after buying an additional 1,867,377 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 79.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $620,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $184,437,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on A shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.29.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

A stock traded down $1.91 during trading on Thursday, reaching $145.46. 2,176,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,653,770. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $137.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.28. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 quarter, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.