Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Stock Position Reduced by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,149 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 905 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after buying an additional 59,781 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $938,291,000 after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after acquiring an additional 47,495 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $596,026,000 after acquiring an additional 38,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of A opened at $111.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.45. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.27.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now 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.

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.