Savant Capital LLC Has $475,000 Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,726,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,668,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 37,737 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,603,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the period. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $613,000. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on A shares. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A stock opened at $134.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $38.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $141.53 and a 200-day moving average of $139.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

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.