Cantillon Capital Management LLC Acquires 17,627 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,627 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies makes up 2.7% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned about 1.16% of Agilent Technologies worth $445,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in 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 buying an additional 4,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $104,327,000 after buying an additional 68,670 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of A stock opened at $127.83 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $36.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.15.

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 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 note on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their target price 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 dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.