Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.45% of Agilent Technologies worth $938,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on A shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents 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.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE A traded down $0.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $102.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,308,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,417. The company's fifty day moving average is $130.34 and its 200-day moving average is $135.71. The company has a market cap of $29.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. 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 one year low of $98.77 and a one year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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.