Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired 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 (SEC). The fund acquired 5,719 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $795,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during 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 last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last three months.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $1.12 on Thursday, reaching $136.37. 940,756 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,572,401. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.50 and its 200-day moving average is $130.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

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.