California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 616,410 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 30,923 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.22% of Agilent Technologies worth $82,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 88,300 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,847,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,144,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,033 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 51,014 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,853,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,209 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,237,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.83.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on A
Agilent Technologies Price Performance
Shares of A traded down $6.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,826,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,798,069. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.85 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.73.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS 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 $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.
Insider Activity
In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229.
About Agilent Technologies
(
Free Report)
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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