Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $46.63 Million Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 347,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,318 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $46,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,051,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,172,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $49,449,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 258,358 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on A. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

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

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value 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 approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.