Modera Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,941 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after acquiring an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after purchasing an additional 17,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $127.83 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.