California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 19,802 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 467,746 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 19,802 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of Agilent Technologies worth $62,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 640.0% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on A. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A traded down $1.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $111.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,751,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,944,688. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $153.84. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $108.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $31.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.27.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Agilent Technologies's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.