Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Colonial Trust Co SC

Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,414 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $190,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after purchasing an additional 59,781 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $938,291,000 after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after purchasing an additional 47,495 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $456,963,000.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $108.63 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.99. The firm has a market cap of $30.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.43 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued 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. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.00.

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.