Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 47.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after purchasing an additional 493,947 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $48,172,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,449,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $119.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.28. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.08 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $34.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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.