Headlands Technologies LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Headlands Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 49.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,353 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,197 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $94,051,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,172,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $49,449,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.83.

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Agilent Technologies Stock Up 7.8 %

Shares of NYSE A traded up $7.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $107.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,234,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,831,550. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $125.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.