Quantessence Capital LLC Makes New $1.43 Million Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,648 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,430,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sienna Gestion grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,537,000 after buying an additional 17,991 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,664 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the fourth 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. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.8% during 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. Finally, Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,843,000 after buying an additional 10,128 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’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 value 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. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $100.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $118.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.00. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. Research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

About Agilent Technologies

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.