Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Purchased by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 95.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,185 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $136.71 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $151.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $141.19 and a 200-day moving average of $129.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. 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 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

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.