Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Has $9.21 Million Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,264 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $9,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Synovus Financial Corp raised 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 valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 261,435 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased 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 buying an additional 281 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $132.73. 1,303,352 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,324,135. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $141.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.65.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 over the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company 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 increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.