Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Increases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 58.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in A. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 116,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,675,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $470,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $13,569,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 27,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,658,000 after purchasing an additional 8,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $2,038,000. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of A stock opened at $116.55 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $134.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.64. The firm has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.36 and a 1-year high of $155.35. 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 (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction 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 represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.83.

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.