O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,177 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 12.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,672 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,809 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,090,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 8,340 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.83.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229 over the last 90 days.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $103.48. 3,562,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,805,101. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.51 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $129.40 and a 200-day moving average of $135.44. The stock has a market cap of $29.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.76%.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.