Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Reduces Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lessened its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,539 shares during the quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $11,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the third 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. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.38.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $134.57 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 22.40%.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.