SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 60.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,206 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,995 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,304 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,173,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 41,503 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $216,000.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $152.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $137.50 and a 200 day moving average of $137.79. The company has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.16 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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.