Waterloo Capital L.P. Reduces Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Waterloo Capital L.P. decreased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 76.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,675 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,559 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,657 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 23,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 322,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $43,289,000 after purchasing an additional 51,144 shares during the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 57,972 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,755 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,567,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE A opened at $103.48 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $129.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.44. 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 market cap of $29.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $98.51 and a one year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. 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.