Red Tortoise LLC Sells 368 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Red Tortoise LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 52.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 336 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $45,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in 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 valued at $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after acquiring an additional 493,947 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $49,449,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 63.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,075,000 after acquiring an additional 227,431 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $33,087,000.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.2 %

A stock opened at $151.75 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.81.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm 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%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.248 dividend. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on A shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

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.