Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 16,541 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 706,179 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 16,541 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.24% of Agilent Technologies worth $98,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. Kepos Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on A. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised 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 given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A traded down $2.25 on Wednesday, hitting $134.55. 2,083,429 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,584,163. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The business's fifty day moving average is $141.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.48. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

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.