Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,339,938 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 588,953 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.82% of Agilent Technologies worth $314,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.25.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on A
Agilent Technologies Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:A traded up $3.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $105.96. The stock had a trading volume of 536,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,853,568. The stock has a market cap of $30.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.84. 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 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 return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement
The company 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.76%.
Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies
In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business's 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 $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.
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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