Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 281,149 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,167,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 281,149 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Agilent Technologies worth $4,455,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $375,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $205,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $324,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 15.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 49,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,379,000 after acquiring an additional 6,588 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on A shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.0 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $121.96 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $117.17 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $136.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.