Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 5,663 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,663 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $20,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CKW Financial Group grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.4 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $134.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.16 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $141.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.