Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,717 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,537,000 after buying an additional 17,991 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,843,000 after purchasing an additional 10,128 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,802 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on A. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $120.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $153.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $108.33 and its 200 day moving average is $125.73. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.23.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.