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

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.45% of Agilent Technologies worth $938,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,250,276,000 after purchasing an additional 59,781 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after purchasing an additional 47,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $456,963,000. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after buying an additional 17,627 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of A opened at $115.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $33.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.75 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $132.16 and a 200 day moving average of $136.18.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted 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. The firm 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, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.