Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases 4,197 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,724 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 4,197 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CKW Financial Group lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $38,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.15.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $120.72. The company had a trading volume of 3,041,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,684,549. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $34.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.29. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $117.17 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. 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.