Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 6,266 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,837 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,266 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after purchasing an additional 493,947 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,449,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 63.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,075,000 after purchasing an additional 227,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,087,000.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $152.87 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.13 and its 200 day moving average is $137.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $43.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.248 dividend. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on A. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

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.