Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,442,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,147,040 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 4.36% of Agilent Technologies worth $1,671,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in A. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $94,051,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $191,193,000 after acquiring an additional 493,947 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $48,172,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $49,449,000.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $113.67 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.36 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $132.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.32. The company has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.83.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.