Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 3,134 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,393 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,134 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $49,449,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 63.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $87,075,000 after purchasing an additional 227,431 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.15.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $3.58 on Wednesday, hitting $126.64. 2,046,745 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,787,132. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $121.45 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

About Agilent Technologies

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.