denkapparat Operations GmbH Invests $284,000 in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,116 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after buying an additional 47,495 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $456,963,000. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 34,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,649,000 after purchasing an additional 13,330 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,751.0% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,590 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 5,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 16,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,730 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $119.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $134.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.17 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 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.