Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group Acquires 832 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 832 shares during the quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 246.7% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,087,000 after buying an additional 38,737 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 77.7% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 65.6% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 86,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A traded down $1.73 on Thursday, hitting $132.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,144,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,746. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $151.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $38.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $141.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.48.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly 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 year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. 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.