Cambridge Trust Co. Grows Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 89.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,569 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 49,761 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $393,291,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 939.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $256,796,000 after buying an additional 2,075,649 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 233.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $370,552,000 after buying an additional 1,867,377 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $620,414,000 after buying an additional 1,835,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $184,437,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm'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 owns 253,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

A stock traded down $2.11 on Thursday, reaching $132.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,936,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,866. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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 cap of $38.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm's revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 26th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $141.29.

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.