Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $387,000 Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 78.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,880 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 10,260 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in A. CKW Financial Group grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the 4th 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. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company's stock.

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Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of A stock traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $120.23. 1,620,170 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,676,360. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $137.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.57. The stock has a market cap of $34.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.17 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.15.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the 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 directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.