First Hawaiian Bank Increases Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $136.94 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $135.82 and its 200-day moving average is $136.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

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.