Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,881,053 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 83.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 384,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,881,053 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $57,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:A opened at $134.51 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.85 and its 200 day moving average is $136.48. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.