JT Stratford LLC Purchases New Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

JT Stratford LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $109.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.55. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $153.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on A shares. Barclays lowered their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.42.

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.