Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 22,684 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 50.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,970 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 22,684 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sienna Gestion increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,537,000 after purchasing an additional 17,991 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,843,000 after acquiring an additional 10,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,892,000 after acquiring an additional 3,915 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price 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. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. 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 note on Monday, April 21st. 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 note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A traded up $0.71 on Monday, hitting $106.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,689,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,874,129. The company's fifty day moving average price is $115.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.66. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $155.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $30.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business'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 sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, 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 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.