Primecap Management Co. CA Cuts Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Primecap Management Co. CA lessened its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,028,891 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 67,910 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $282,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,841,659,000 after buying an additional 2,170,219 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after buying an additional 1,519,134 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,097,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $458,162,000 after buying an additional 254,998 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $509,904,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,749,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,313,000 after acquiring an additional 153,630 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last three months.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of A stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $150.66. 784,333 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,280,669. The business’s fifty day moving average is $144.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.19. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released 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. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.