Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $57.06 Million Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 384,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,881,053 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Agilent Technologies worth $57,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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 worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,948,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,799,000 after buying an additional 136,184 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.0 %

A opened at $134.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $135.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a PEG ratio of 4.48 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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 cut Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.62.

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.