Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 86,226 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 56.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,772 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 86,226 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.08% of Agilent Technologies worth $31,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 13.5% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter.

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Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

A traded down $1.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $120.35. 1,605,940 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,683,755. The company's fifty day moving average price is $136.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.16. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $34.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on A. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on 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 owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.