Modera Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,053 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,941 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $445,546,000 after acquiring an additional 17,627 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,924 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $665,000.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $126.68. The stock had a trading volume of 851,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,305. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.11. 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 1-year low of $121.45 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $140.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.87.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued 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 0.78%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the 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 represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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.