Unigestion Holding SA Takes $672,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,000 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of A. CKW Financial Group lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229.

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Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.66. 2,848,584 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,681,859. The company has a market cap of $29.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The stock's 50 day moving average is $123.76 and its 200 day moving average is $133.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. On average, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.25.

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.