AJOVista LLC Makes New $221,000 Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 33,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 49,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,525,000 after acquiring an additional 8,063 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 19.8% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 4.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,677,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $299,373,000 after acquiring an additional 124,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 45.6% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in 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 value of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock traded up $1.93 on Friday, reaching $139.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,097,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,239,688. The stock has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.