Xponance Inc. Sells 1,357 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Xponance Inc. reduced its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,357 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of A. Kepos Capital LP lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 41.1% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.1% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $132.73 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $141.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.65. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, 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 value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, 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 value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on A. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.