Terra Alpha Investments LLC Makes New $3.21 Million Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Terra Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,210,000. Agilent Technologies makes up about 3.2% of Terra Alpha Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,051,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third 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 buying an additional 525,214 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $191,193,000 after buying an additional 493,947 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,172,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,449,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on A. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $121.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.17 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

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.