Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,076,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,238,549,000 after acquiring an additional 39,030 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,146,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,134 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,097,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $458,162,000 after purchasing an additional 254,998 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,677,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $299,373,000 after purchasing an additional 124,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 233.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,377 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $137.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $151.58. The company has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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.