Vestcor Inc Lowers Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Vestcor Inc trimmed its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,835 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,370 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after purchasing an additional 493,947 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $48,172,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $49,449,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on A shares. 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 research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of A stock opened at $121.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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.