Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 83,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $12,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in A. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,279,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,514,556,000 after buying an additional 206,865 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,841,659,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170,219 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,134 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $509,904,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,749,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,313,000 after purchasing an additional 153,630 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.13.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $1.62 on Tuesday, reaching $125.78. 1,981,138 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,794,515. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $139.43 and its 200-day moving average is $138.43. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

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.