Marino Stram & Associates LLC Cuts Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 442 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,246,209,000 after acquiring an additional 261,435 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,076,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,238,549,000 after buying an additional 39,030 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,146,773,000 after buying an additional 1,519,134 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,203,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $856,310,000 after acquiring an additional 122,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $620,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,413 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $2.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $137.50. 670,439 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,567,412. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $151.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.27. The company has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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.