Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 2,393 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,236 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,393 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Agilent Technologies worth $25,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A traded up $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $133.20. 158,400 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,569,591. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.50. The company has a market cap of $39.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on A shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

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.