Madison Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 700,094 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 700,094 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,051,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. CKW Financial Group grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in 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. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $37,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A opened at $119.92 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.08 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $138.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.28. The company has a market capitalization of $34.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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.