Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,534 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,242 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 7,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 3,854 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,911,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $699,000. Finally, Dauntless Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $267,000.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.6 %

A opened at $107.46 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.19.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on A. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

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.