Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Stock Position Decreased by Suncoast Equity Management

Suncoast Equity Management lessened its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,630 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.3% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $895,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.3% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 52.1% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,246,209,000 after acquiring an additional 261,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A traded down $2.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $137.85. 554,951 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,566,254. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $141.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.27. The company has a market cap of $40.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on A shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

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.