Korea Investment CORP Trims Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Korea Investment CORP lowered its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,926 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 20,056 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $29,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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 objective 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 lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 2.0 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $116.55 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $116.36 and a one year high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.11. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $134.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.65.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.