New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 8,504 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 371,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,504 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.13% of Agilent Technologies worth $49,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third 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 period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after buying an additional 258,358 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after buying an additional 80,819 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE A opened at $137.21 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on A. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.38.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website.

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.