Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 7,950 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,544 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 7,950 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CKW Financial Group lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $113.76. 1,811,948 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,904,117. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $110.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.43 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.27. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $154.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.