Xponance Inc. Sells 1,357 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Xponance Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,357 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup raised 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, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $132.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $151.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $141.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.65.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

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.