UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 5,075 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,901 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,075 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CKW Financial Group raised its position 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 during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in 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 period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $116.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $134.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.64. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $116.36 and a one year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.