Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Purchased by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 164,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 18,630 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $22,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of A. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after buying an additional 4,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 10.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $104,327,000 after buying an additional 68,670 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on A. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.6 %

A stock opened at $145.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

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.