abrdn plc Cuts Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

abrdn plc trimmed its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 626,138 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 25,733 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned about 0.22% of Agilent Technologies worth $84,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 525,214 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake 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 worth $431,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A traded down $2.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $145.21. 1,557,765 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,732,627. The company has a market cap of $41.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $141.59 and a 200 day moving average of $139.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.40%.

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.