Ninety One UK Ltd Decreases Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ninety One UK Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,219 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 14,794 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 0.06% of Agilent Technologies worth $22,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 52,873 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,351,000 after acquiring an additional 7,547 shares in the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,609 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 31,216 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,340,000 after buying an additional 6,028 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,185 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 4,980 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 three months, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:A traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $132.73. 1,299,968 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,585,109. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $151.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.65.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on A. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.