Primecap Management Co. CA Reduces Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,789,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 116,179 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.63% of Agilent Technologies worth $240,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.2 %

A stock opened at $122.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.99 and a 200 day moving average of $137.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.17 and a 52 week high of $155.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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.