169,412 Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Purchased by ExodusPoint Capital Management LP

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 169,412 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,759,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sienna Gestion raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,537,000 after purchasing an additional 17,991 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after buying an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $5,721,000 after buying an additional 4,805 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,621,000 after acquiring an additional 6,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,915 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:A opened at $115.96 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $132.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.75 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.