Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS Acquires Shares of 27,205 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 27,205 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,182,000. Agilent Technologies comprises about 1.0% of Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in A. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,442 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 82,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $111.17 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $108.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.76. The firm has a market cap of $31.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Barclays dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.42.

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.