Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Sells 507 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 88,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $11,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

A stock opened at $151.75 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

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

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.