Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 358,584 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 358,584 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,172,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after acquiring an additional 59,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $938,291,000 after purchasing an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after purchasing an additional 47,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $456,963,000. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in 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 buying an additional 17,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on A shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.25.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE A opened at $105.19 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $29.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Agilent Technologies

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.