SVB Wealth LLC Decreases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

SVB Wealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,027 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 31,255 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $10,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of A. Keel Point LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $311,000. Oak Family Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 4,826 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 16,265 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,518 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 2.5 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $3.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $136.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,345,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,320. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The company has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $141.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.45. 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 (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. 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 related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.