Lyell Wealth Management LP Acquires 291 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Column Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $136.48. 739,883 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,568,316. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The stock has a market cap of $40.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.33.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on A. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.