First Horizon Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,813 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,222 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% in the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $1.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.47. 1,097,922 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,529,191. The business has a 50-day moving average of $141.92 and a 200 day moving average of $131.30. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.