Earnest Partners LLC Has $66.95 Million Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 498,334 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,174 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.17% of Agilent Technologies worth $66,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on A. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:A traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, hitting $107.60. 1,452,192 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,877,270. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company's 50-day moving average price is $115.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

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

About Agilent Technologies

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.