New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 457,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 29,618 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $63,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% in the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on A. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $139.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $141.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.28. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 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 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 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.