National Pension Service Reduces Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

National Pension Service reduced its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 38.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 435,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 267,543 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of Agilent Technologies worth $58,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 7,111 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $2,726,000.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 5.5 %

Shares of A opened at $127.07 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $140.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America reduced 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.15.

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.