Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Acquires 320 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,700,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $228,484,000 after acquiring an additional 38,359 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 26,819 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $126.64 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.45 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio 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.