Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Acquired by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,069 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,088,000 after buying an additional 203,234 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $216,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $260,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 60.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 102,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,228,000 after purchasing an additional 38,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,242 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $122.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.45 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $139.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The company 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 analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on A. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.