Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 194,031 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 194,031 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $26,066,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.07% of Agilent Technologies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in A. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,771 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 46,808 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,288,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 114,275 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $15,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 1,156,536 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $155,369,000 after buying an additional 18,677 shares during the period.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $2.76 on Tuesday, reaching $123.58. 1,735,846 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,760,022. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.45 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $140.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.08. The stock has a market cap of $35.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

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.