Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 1,012 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,012 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $6,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $136.71 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $40.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 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.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.