Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 31.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,685 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,012 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,250,276,000 after purchasing an additional 59,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $700,414,000 after purchasing an additional 47,495 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $456,963,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on A shares. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.83.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.7 %

A stock opened at $115.96 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $132.16 and its 200 day moving average is $136.18. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.75 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $33.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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.