By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Fmr LLC decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Free Report) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,174,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 112,796 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $157,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of A. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $672,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,657 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 23,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 322,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $43,289,000 after buying an additional 51,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 57,972 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,788,000 after buying an additional 3,755 shares during the period.
Agilent Technologies Stock Performance
NYSE:A opened at $102.66 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $123.76 and a 200-day moving average of $133.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.19.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.55 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 issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.25.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on A
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value 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. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229 in the last ninety days.
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.
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