Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Position Boosted by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $151.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $43.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average is $138.43 and its 200-day moving average is $138.06. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.16 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

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.