Simplicity Solutions LLC Has $885,000 Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 68.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,587 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $393,291,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 939.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $256,796,000 after buying an additional 2,075,649 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 233.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,552,000 after buying an additional 1,867,377 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $620,414,000 after buying an additional 1,835,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $184,437,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 2.5 %

A stock opened at $136.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $141.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.45. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on A shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

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.