State of Alaska Department of Revenue Trims Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,759 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,571 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,028,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 39,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on A shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America reduced their target price 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. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A traded down $3.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,103,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,685,718. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $141.72 and a 200 day moving average of $139.46. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $39.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio 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.