California Public Employees Retirement System Has $86.11 Million Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 619,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,737 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.21% of Agilent Technologies worth $86,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.4% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 3,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $137.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $141.50 and its 200-day moving average is $130.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last 90 days.

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.