Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 50.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,714 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 17,240 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of A. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in 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. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A traded down $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $136.74. The company had a trading volume of 872,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,657,151. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on A. Bank of America decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.38.

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.