Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 73.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 22,700 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after buying an additional 4,805 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $104,327,000 after buying an additional 68,670 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on A shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A opened at $135.33 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $140.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.29. The stock has a market capitalization 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. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.