Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $1.57 Million Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 35.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,714 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,076 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of A. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $2,726,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,638,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on A shares. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $135.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $38.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.31. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.