Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys 794 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Bank of America lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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 upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE A opened at $115.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $112.75 and a one year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced 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. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. 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 currently 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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. Insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229 in the last 90 days.

Agilent Technologies 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.