Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Stake Decreased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 361,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 22,575 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $48,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $104,327,000 after purchasing an additional 68,670 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on A. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE A opened at $136.74 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.28.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

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.