Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $11.57 Million in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 85,991 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,567,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,537,000 after purchasing an additional 17,991 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after buying an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after buying an additional 4,805 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,621,000 after buying an additional 6,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,892,000 after acquiring an additional 3,915 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229 over the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $102.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.71. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.80 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.