Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Stock Position Trimmed by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 44.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 414,143 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Agilent Technologies worth $68,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 27,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,658,000 after purchasing an additional 8,313 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,038,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 338,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $45,409,000 after buying an additional 18,038 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 35,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,799,000 after buying an additional 4,197 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight 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 price target of $146.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE A opened at $120.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $135.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.05. The stock has a market cap of $34.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.17 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

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.