Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC reduced its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 52.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 173,179 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 187,616 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $23,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $102.97 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.80 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $29.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Bank of America dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229.

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.