Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 48.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,295 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,192 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $132.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $141.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.50. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. 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 released 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. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.