Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,095 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,419 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. CKW Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies 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 value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $120.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $117.17 and a one year high of $155.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $136.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on A shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

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.