Fisher Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of A. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,088,000 after acquiring an additional 203,234 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $220,000. Maia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $173,000. Finally, M&G PLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 274,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,661,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $126.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $139.85 and a 200-day moving average of $138.79. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $121.45 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $36.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced 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. The company 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, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on A shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

About Agilent Technologies

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.