Natixis Advisors L.P. Purchases 12,630 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 12,630 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $10,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 939.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $256,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,649 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 233.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,377 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $184,437,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,146,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 120.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,596,227 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $290,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,430 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.5 %

A stock opened at $141.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.24. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. The firm has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 this hyperlink. 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 value of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

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.