Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,442,834 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,147,040 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 4.36% of Agilent Technologies worth $1,671,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CKW Financial Group increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on A shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.83.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229 in the last ninety days.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 6.1 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded down $6.70 on Friday, reaching $102.97. 3,826,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,798,069. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $130.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.85 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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.