Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by First Manhattan CO. LLC.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 81,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,637 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $11,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Sienna Gestion lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,537,000 after purchasing an additional 17,991 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after buying an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after buying an additional 4,805 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,843,000 after acquiring an additional 10,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,892,000 after acquiring an additional 3,915 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $106.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $111.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.80. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.