New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $31.91 Million Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 237,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 14,556 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $31,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,726,000. Creative Planning increased its stake 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 period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 37,737 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,603,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on A shares. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.4 %

A opened at $134.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $141.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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.