Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,545 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 14,583 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $18,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $205,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,672 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,809 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,090,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 8,340 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 7.8 %

A traded up $7.73 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $107.02. 4,234,531 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.48. The firm has a market cap of $30.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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.