Bessemer Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 975,885 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 194,637 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.34% of Agilent Technologies worth $131,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of A. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $48,172,000. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1,010.8% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 174,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,685,000 after purchasing an additional 159,117 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 140,344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $18,854,000 after purchasing an additional 33,008 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,108,201 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $283,216,000 after buying an additional 120,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 68,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,477,000 after buying an additional 19,203 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 7.8 %

Shares of A stock opened at $107.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.48. The stock has a market cap of $30.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on A shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

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.