Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,187 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 10,179 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,204,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 640.0% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 104.9% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 51,066 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. Finally, JT Stratford LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,000.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on A shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE A traded down $1.57 on Friday, hitting $111.71. The stock had a trading volume of 660,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,939,871. The business's fifty day moving average price is $108.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $153.84. The stock has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

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.