Ninety One North America Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,873 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,547 shares during the quarter. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $7,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upped 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 note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last ninety days.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $133.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,032,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,576,344. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.48.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.