Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 8,000 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 322,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $43,289,000 after acquiring an additional 51,144 shares in the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $7,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,755 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,567,000. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,843,000 after purchasing an additional 10,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,759,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 6.1 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $102.97 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $130.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.85 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

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.