Keel Point LLC Makes New $311,000 Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Keel Point LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,236 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in A. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,246,209,000 after buying an additional 261,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A opened at $136.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $40.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $141.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.45.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

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.