Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 55,364 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,674 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 55,364 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $18,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in A. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Column Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% in the 3rd quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on A shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A traded down $3.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $144.16. 1,002,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,600,699. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $151.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.25 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $140.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.