First Trust Advisors LP Has $82.28 Million Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 612,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $82,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CKW Financial Group raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $100.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.00. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

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.