Huntington National Bank Buys 255 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after purchasing an additional 59,781 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $938,291,000 after buying an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after buying an additional 47,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $456,963,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 6.1 %

NYSE A opened at $102.97 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.85 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $29.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $130.34 and its 200 day moving average is $135.75.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.