Dudley & Shanley Inc. Sells 6,700 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. decreased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,200 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,700 shares during the quarter. Agilent Technologies accounts for approximately 1.0% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Dudley & Shanley Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $6,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after acquiring an additional 158,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in 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 worth $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,948,536 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $437,799,000 after purchasing an additional 136,184 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A traded up $2.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $135.69. 1,246,918 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,100,209. 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 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $135.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.61. The firm has a market cap of $38.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The company 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%. Agilent Technologies's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.