Mather Group LLC. Increases Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 38.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 38,737 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position 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 worth $13,375,000 after buying an additional 86,355 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,174,000 after acquiring an additional 11,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted 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 valued at $3,208,000 after acquiring an additional 13,352 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the 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 directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $137.04 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.74 and its 200 day moving average is $131.21. The company has a market cap of $40.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly 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. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. 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 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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.