Boston Common Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 97.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,555 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 57,170 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in 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 period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $191,193,000 after acquiring an additional 493,947 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $49,449,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $124,073,000 after acquiring an additional 313,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 63.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $87,075,000 after acquiring an additional 227,431 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of A stock traded up $2.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $147.57. 3,210,301 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,210,953. The stock has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.16 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.19.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities 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 research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.62.

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.