Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Raises Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 35.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,714 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,076 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of A. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $2,726,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,910 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 9.5% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,234 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,638,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.1 %

A stock traded down $1.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $135.33. 1,112,236 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,641,125. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $141.04 and a 200-day moving average of $139.28. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.