The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 18,757 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 209,826 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 18,757 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Agilent Technologies worth $28,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,999 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 100.3% during the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 7,696 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,034,000 after buying an additional 3,854 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $18,911,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $699,000. Finally, Dauntless Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $267,000.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of A stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $108.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,385,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,881,377. The company has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.71. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was 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 approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on A shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of 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 increased their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

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.