Marshall Wace LLP Has $108.40 Million Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 280.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 806,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 594,744 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $108,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CKW Financial Group grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in 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 period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during 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 during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.25.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.3 %

A stock opened at $102.80 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $29.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.12. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.