Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,784 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,246,209,000 after buying an additional 261,435 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,076,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,238,549,000 after buying an additional 39,030 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after buying an additional 1,519,134 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,203,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $856,310,000 after buying an additional 122,329 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 79.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $620,414,000 after buying an additional 1,835,413 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $2.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $132.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,936,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,582,981. The firm has a market cap of $38.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 in the last ninety days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

About Agilent Technologies

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.