SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 60.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,206 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,995 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after purchasing an additional 493,947 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,449,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,075,000 after buying an additional 227,431 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $33,087,000.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $152.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.50 and a 200 day moving average of $137.79. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $43.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

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.