Goodman Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Goodman Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,476 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 4.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $663,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $535,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,300,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on A. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s 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 owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade 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 sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of A stock opened at $102.38 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $120.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Agilent Technologies 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.