Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.67 Million Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 939.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,075,649 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $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 acquiring an additional 1,519,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,420,430 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $141.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.43 and its 200 day moving average is $132.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one 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 EPS 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 net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

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.