Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Hahn Capital Management LLC

Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 39.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,701 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,010 shares during the quarter. Agilent Technologies makes up about 3.9% of Hahn Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Hahn Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 73,070 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,493 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,066,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 46,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,288,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 114,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $127.07 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $140.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.20. The firm has a market cap of $36.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results 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 25.58% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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.