Duality Advisers LP Makes New $559,000 Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in A. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Column Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% in the 3rd quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $136.35 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $141.53 and a 200-day moving average of $130.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market capitalization of $39.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.