Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 96.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,597 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $1,673,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 76,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,675,000 after purchasing an additional 12,630 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,550 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,063 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,387,080 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $331,876,000 after buying an additional 90,568 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:A 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on A. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

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.