Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. CKW Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $38,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.15.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $127.07 on Friday. The company 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced 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 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS 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 given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.