Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Increases Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 58.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in A. State Street Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during 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 last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after acquiring an additional 17,627 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,819 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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 dropped their price target 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. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $116.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $116.36 and a one year high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $134.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.85%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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.