Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 38.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 435,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 267,543 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $58,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $2,726,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $127.07 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $140.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.20. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $36.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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.