Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Makes New Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sienna Gestion grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,537,000 after buying an additional 17,991 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,915 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $115.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.75 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $132.16 and its 200 day moving average is $136.18.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

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.