CX Institutional Purchases 196 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 196 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,456 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after buying an additional 4,805 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $151.24 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.06. 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 market cap of $43.19 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.