Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Stock Position Trimmed by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. decreased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,263 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $38,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:A opened at $135.33 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.