Whittier Trust Co. Sells 1,673 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,673 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of A. Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $375,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $216,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $324,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on A. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $120.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $136.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.29. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.17 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

About Agilent Technologies

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.