DAVENPORT & Co LLC Has $679,000 Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 77.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,135 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Column Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of A opened at $144.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $151.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.08 and a 200-day moving average of $128.14.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $133.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 value of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.