Blair William & Co. IL Has $4.65 Million Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 62.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 34,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,330 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after acquiring an additional 17,627 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $434,625,000 after acquiring an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,819 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A opened at $116.55 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.36 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.29 and its 200-day moving average is $136.63. The company has a market capitalization of $33.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

About Agilent Technologies

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.