Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 525,214 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 258,358 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after buying an additional 80,819 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:A opened at $135.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.31. The stock has a market cap of $38.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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.