Strategic Global Advisors LLC Purchases 999 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Strategic Global Advisors LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in A. CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of A stock opened at $113.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $154.95. The stock has a market cap of $32.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.17.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 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 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned 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 price target of $143.00.

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.