Cannon Advisors Inc. Buys 196 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cannon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 196 shares during the quarter. Cannon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CKW Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $116.99 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.76 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $133.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.49.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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.