Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $30.75 Million Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 54.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 228,877 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 271,069 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Agilent Technologies worth $30,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $37,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on A. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven 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.

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Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $120.35. 1,605,940 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,683,755. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.17 and a twelve month 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. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $136.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.16. The firm has a market cap of $34.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.