Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,167,661 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 281,149 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.63% of Agilent Technologies worth $4,455,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in A. Sienna Gestion lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,537,000 after buying an additional 17,991 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $14,848,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,802 shares during the period.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have issued reports on A. Barclays upgraded shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.83.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on A
Agilent Technologies Stock Down 2.0 %
Shares of NYSE A traded down $2.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $116.55. 1,772,856 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,768,077. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.38 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.65.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm 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 analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Agilent Technologies Company Profile
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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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