KPP Advisory Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,056 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 199 shares during the quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $410,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,603,000 after acquiring an additional 80,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $148.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $140.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.248 dividend. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.