BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 6,469 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,997 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,469 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $94,051,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 280.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 806,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $108,398,000 after acquiring an additional 594,744 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,172,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:A opened at $102.83 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $118.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.80. 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 company has a market cap of $29.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 sale, 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on A shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.00.

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.