Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 53,992 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 53,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $938,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in A. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on A. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a 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 note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of A opened at $115.96 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.75 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $132.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.18. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.