Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Hancock Whitney Corp lessened its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 48.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,513 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 9,709 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring 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 approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on A. Barclays dropped their price target on 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $143.00.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

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

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $107.60. The company had a trading volume of 867,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,874,120. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $115.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 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.