MJP Associates Inc. ADV Invests $353,000 in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Monumental Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Kepos Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE A opened at $133.25 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $139.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on A. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $134.00 target price (down previously from $145.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,785 shares of company stock valued at $2,670,836 in the last three months.

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.