Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,605 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in A. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 246.7% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 38,737 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 77.7% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 259.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 86,355 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 20.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 137.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,208,000 after buying an additional 13,352 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.0 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $137.69 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The stock has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

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.