Champlain Investment Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 748,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 55,720 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Agilent Technologies worth $100,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. CKW Financial Group lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $102.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.19. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $121.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.12.

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 analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.25.

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.