Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Parnassus Investments LLC

Parnassus Investments LLC decreased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,140,757 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,278 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $153,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after acquiring an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,316,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,546,000 after acquiring an additional 17,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after acquiring an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $117.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.17 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.54 and its 200-day moving average is $138.13.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on A shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.