Investment House LLC Sells 230 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Investment House LLC lowered its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,020 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of A. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 246.7% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after acquiring an additional 38,737 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 77.7% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,375,000 after acquiring an additional 86,355 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,174,000 after acquiring an additional 11,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 137.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,208,000 after acquiring an additional 13,352 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $139.59 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.02. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The company has a market cap of $40.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on A shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

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.