Grimes & Company Inc. Increases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,392 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $16,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $509,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,841,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170,219 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 233.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $370,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,377 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 262.1% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,292,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,768 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,134 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on A shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.88.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $1.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $129.63. The company had a trading volume of 9,817,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,764. The stock has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.47. 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 (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.