Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC Cuts Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,374 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 398 shares during the quarter. Agilent Technologies comprises about 2.7% of Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Kepos Capital LP raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Invesco LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Balentine LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 3,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research 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.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.0 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $137.74. The stock had a trading volume of 754,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,651. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. 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 (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

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.