Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 163,219 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 14,794 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $22,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ninety One North America Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 52,873 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,351,000 after purchasing an additional 7,547 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 31,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,340,000 after buying an additional 6,028 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 95.7% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after buying an additional 4,980 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:A opened at $132.44 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $151.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 in the last three months.

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.