Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Invests $232,000 in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,667 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of A. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 939.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $256,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,649 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 233.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,377 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $184,437,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,596,227 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $290,310,000 after buying an additional 1,420,430 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $139.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.28. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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.