Bessemer Securities LLC Decreases Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Bessemer Securities LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of A. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13,422.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 37,574,064 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,518,281,000 after buying an additional 37,296,195 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,246,209,000 after acquiring an additional 261,435 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,218,926 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,137,008,000 after purchasing an additional 511,874 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,203,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $856,310,000 after purchasing an additional 122,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $620,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,413 shares during the period. 85.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on A shares. UBS Group cut shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $163.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Thursday, September 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.94.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $0.76 on Monday, reaching $113.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 390,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,314. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $160.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $33.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 29th. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total value of $415,730.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 24,219 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,732.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.