1,000 Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Purchased by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 246.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 38,737 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 86,355 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 11,075 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $136.37. 940,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,572,401. 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 company has a market capitalization of $39.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.33. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during 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%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on A. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

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.