Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 282 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 53.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 805 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 30,610 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,819 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.1 %

A opened at $135.33 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.16 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $140.97 and its 200 day moving average is $139.34. 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 (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued 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 yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on 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 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.38.

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.