Gitterman Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Gitterman Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,588 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,076,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,238,549,000 after buying an additional 39,030 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,146,773,000 after buying an additional 1,519,134 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,097,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $458,162,000 after buying an additional 254,998 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,677,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $299,373,000 after buying an additional 124,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 233.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,552,000 after buying an additional 1,867,377 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of A traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $137.74. 754,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,245,651. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.68.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released 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 return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.236 dividend. 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 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders 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.