Flputnam Investment Management Co. Decreases Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,274 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,423 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $10,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 246.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,087,000 after buying an additional 38,737 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 259.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $13,375,000 after buying an additional 86,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $7,174,000 after acquiring an additional 11,075 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A traded down $0.51 during trading on Monday, hitting $140.22. 1,506,010 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,580,539. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58. The company has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.27.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $141.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 over the last 90 days.

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.