Violich Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Violich Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in A. McAdam LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A stock opened at $143.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.99 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $141.59 and a 200-day moving average of $139.37. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.38.

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.