Quadrant Capital Group LLC Boosts Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,657 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,250,276,000 after purchasing an additional 59,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $938,291,000 after purchasing an additional 53,992 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after acquiring an additional 47,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $456,963,000. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after purchasing an additional 17,627 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.83.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $102.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.71. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

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.