International Assets Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 76,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,595,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of A. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Column Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the 3rd quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $140.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The company has a market capitalization of $41.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

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.