MJP Associates Inc. ADV Has $362,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV lessened its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 65,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,786,000 after acquiring an additional 23,466 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 10,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,110,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 205.7% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 125,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,816,000 after purchasing an additional 84,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,823,000.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 8.0%

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $115.53 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced 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 company 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, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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

Several research firms have recently commented on A. Barclays cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.00.

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.