Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 86,093 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lowered its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 40.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 86,093 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $17,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 246.7% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 38,737 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 77.7% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 65.6% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 86,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on A shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.6 %

A stock opened at $132.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its 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 firm 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 business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the company’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 over the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies 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.