Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,285 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after acquiring an additional 80,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report 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. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upgraded 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 report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $141.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies 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. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.