Investment Management Corp of Ontario Increases Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A opened at $106.93 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $155.35. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.76.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.