Occidental Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,685 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $144.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.99.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

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.