Unigestion Holding SA Acquires New Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $215,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 66,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,907,000 after buying an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 104,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,576,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 149,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,143,000 after buying an additional 68,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229 over the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America cut 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 6.1 %

NYSE:A opened at $102.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.80 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $130.34 and a 200 day moving average of $135.71.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. On average, research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid 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 0.96%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.