Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 5,051 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 978,420 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 5,051 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.34% of Agilent Technologies worth $131,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $94,051,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 280.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 806,895 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $108,398,000 after purchasing an additional 594,744 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $48,172,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock traded down $0.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $106.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,120,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,870,390. The stock's 50-day moving average is $116.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 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.