Clarius Group LLC Purchases 608 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Clarius Group LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,920 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 98.9% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,786 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $302,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,485 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,660,000 after buying an additional 10,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 32,967 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,583,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $140.73 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $151.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.02 and its 200 day moving average is $129.07. The stock has a market cap of $41.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid 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 yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, 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 value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.