Whittier Trust Co. Sells 1,673 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,673 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $375,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $324,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:A opened at $120.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $34.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $136.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.29. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.17 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. As a group, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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 is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.