Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 40.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 124,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 86,093 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $17,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.6 %

A stock opened at $132.44 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $151.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $141.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a market cap of $38.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast 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 $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 over the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.29.

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.