Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Acquired by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 31.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,343 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 939.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $256,796,000 after buying an additional 2,075,649 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake 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 valued at $370,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,377 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $184,437,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,596,227 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $290,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,430 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $137.52 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $40.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $141.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.30. 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 data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on A. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

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.