PGGM Investments Has $3.44 Million Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

PGGM Investments reduced its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,732 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,669 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.0 %

A opened at $137.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $141.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.80.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last ninety days.

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.