Signaturefd LLC Buys 874 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 874 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 939.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,075,649 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $370,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,377 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $184,437,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after buying an additional 1,519,134 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,420,430 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 over the last 90 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on A shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $133.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.08. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58. The stock has a market cap of $39.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

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.