Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Buys Shares of 2,850 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.1% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of A opened at $115.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.75 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $132.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.18. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on A. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229 in the last three months.

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.