New York Life Investment Management LLC Has $5.78 Million Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

New York Life Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 936 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 246.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 38,737 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 86,355 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 137.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 13,352 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last 90 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on A. Barclays boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted 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, Oppenheimer lifted 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. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $139.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $151.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.92 and a 200-day moving average of $131.30.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 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.