Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Buys 1,900 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 114,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $15,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after acquiring an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,819 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 5.5 %

A stock opened at $127.07 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $36.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.07. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $140.78 and its 200 day moving average is $139.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Activity

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 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 $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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.