Mackenzie Financial Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 251,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 41,853 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Agilent Technologies worth $34,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Invesco LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 16,265 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $427,000. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $134.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $141.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.48. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.