Cinctive Capital Management LP Invests $12.94 Million in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 96,302 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $12,937,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after purchasing an additional 59,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $938,291,000 after purchasing an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $700,414,000 after buying an additional 47,495 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $456,963,000.

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Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.8 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $102.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,420,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,944,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $130.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.71. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.51 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company's 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229 over the last ninety days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.83.

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.