Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Stock Holdings Lifted by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 435.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 17,238 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after purchasing an additional 17,627 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

A stock opened at $123.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.17 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

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.