Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Trims Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 113,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,234 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $15,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 62.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,449,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% in the 4th 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. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,075,000 after acquiring an additional 227,431 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A opened at $134.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.38.

About Agilent Technologies

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.