Argent Trust Co Purchases New Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Argent Trust Co purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,469 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 216 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 303 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:A opened at $119.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.03. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $112.52 and a one year high of $160.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.37.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 23rd. The medical research company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 30.11% and a net margin of 19.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 26th. Investors of record on Monday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $168.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. 888 reiterated a “maintains” rating on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Wednesday. Finally, SVB Securities cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.35.

About Agilent Technologies

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Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level.