Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $12.66 Million Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,083 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,245 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $12,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of A. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Column Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of A opened at $144.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.11. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $140.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.14.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.