Brookstone Capital Management Takes $205,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,478 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $393,291,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 939.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $256,796,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,649 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 233.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $370,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,835,413 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $184,437,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was 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 owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Agilent Technologies from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $128.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $147.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $137.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.13. The company has a market capitalization of $43.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.