HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 4,432 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,432 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $9,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CKW Financial Group increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $38,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on A shares. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $122.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.99 and a 200 day moving average of $137.82. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.17 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

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.