Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Acquires Shares of 3,175 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,175 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A traded down $2.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $137.04. 1,087,156 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,547,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $151.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $141.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction 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 $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on A. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.