Louisbourg Investments Inc. Has $4.25 Million Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $104,327,000 after buying an additional 68,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on A. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $141.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $141.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.46. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.40%.

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.