Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 64,393 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,134 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of A. Hahn Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 66,701 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,961,000 after buying an additional 19,010 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 73,070 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,493 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,066,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 46,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,288,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’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 owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $127.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. Analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

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.