Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 5,927 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 169,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,927 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $22,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sienna Gestion grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,537,000 after purchasing an additional 17,991 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,848,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 4,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,621,000 after acquiring an additional 6,802 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.83.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $119.04 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $33.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $117.17 and a one year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio 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.