Godsey & Gibb Inc. Purchases 3,357 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,969 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 3,357 shares during the quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $18,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $431,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on A. Barclays cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of A traded up $2.54 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $144.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,661,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,535,563. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

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.