Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Takes $29,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 216 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $445,546,000 after acquiring an additional 17,627 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 258,358 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,603,000 after acquiring an additional 80,819 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE A opened at $120.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $34.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.17 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $136.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.28. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.