Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,400 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,800 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on A. Barclays cut their target price 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. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE A traded up $3.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $151.06. The company had a trading volume of 385,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,691,980. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $43.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were 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 yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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.