Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC Decreases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC trimmed its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 279,156 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 185,748 shares during the quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC owned 0.10% of Agilent Technologies worth $37,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,051,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 280.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 806,895 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $108,398,000 after buying an additional 594,744 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $563,259,000 after buying an additional 457,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,066,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on A. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

Insider Activity

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

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6%

A stock traded down $1.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,369,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,886,994. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $155.35. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $111.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.76. The company has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion during 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 predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Agilent Technologies's dividend 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.