Keel Point LLC Acquires New Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Keel Point LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,236 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,785,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,246,209,000 after acquiring an additional 261,435 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $136.71 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. The company has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on A. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.