Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,228,455 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,734 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 2.88% of Agilent Technologies worth $1,105,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 3,730 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,430,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 978,420 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $131,506,000 after buying an additional 5,051 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 158,736 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $21,325,000 after buying an additional 9,219 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $102.83 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $29.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.80.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. 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 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.

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