Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Increases Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $393,291,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 939.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $256,796,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,649 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 233.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 79.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $620,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,413 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $184,437,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $131.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $38.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.48.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last quarter.

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.