E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Has $404,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 70.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,007 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third 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 buying an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after buying an additional 493,947 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,172,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $49,449,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $434,625,000 after buying an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $126.59 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $139.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.69. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.45 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on 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. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, 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 transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

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.