Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Trims Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 58.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,100,368 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,524,134 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.39% of Agilent Technologies worth $147,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of A. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.1 %

A stock traded up $2.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $108.71. 489,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,874,506. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on A shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

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.