Cypress Capital Group Sells 1,297 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,256 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,297 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,610 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $445,546,000 after purchasing an additional 17,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE A opened at $126.64 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.45 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.87. The stock has a market cap of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. On average, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

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.