Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 294,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,243 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $39,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’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 value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $99.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.43 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $124.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.18.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.