Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 3,134 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after buying an additional 258,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after buying an additional 80,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $127.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.