Groupama Asset Managment Grows Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 12.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,672 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.0% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,809 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6,000.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 8,340 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on A. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

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

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

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.