Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,095 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,419 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of A. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 35,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,799,000 after purchasing an additional 4,197 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 237,772 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,942,000 after purchasing an additional 86,226 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 14,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 265,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,728,000 after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,822,000.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $120.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $34.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $136.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.17 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

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.