Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 105,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,092 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $113.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.44 and a 200-day moving average of $128.17. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $154.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $32.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 3.21 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.