Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Has $314,000 Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 68.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,331 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,020 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,903 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,706,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 50.9% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 824 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of A stock traded down $1.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $141.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,134,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,670,243. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.67 and a 200 day moving average of $139.43. The firm has a market cap of $40.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. 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 (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.