Korea Investment CORP Sells 20,056 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Korea Investment CORP lowered its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 218,926 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 20,056 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of Agilent Technologies worth $29,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of A. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after buying an additional 17,627 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during 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 buying an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,603,000 after acquiring an additional 80,819 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $116.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.36 and a 52-week high of $155.35. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $134.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.65.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

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.