Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Buys 5,288 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1,751.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,590 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,288 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sienna Gestion increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,537,000 after acquiring an additional 17,991 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,621,000 after buying an additional 6,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,892,000 after buying an additional 3,915 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 2.0 %

A stock opened at $116.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.64. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.36 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.