Fulton Bank N.A. Decreases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Fulton Bank N.A. cut its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $136.94 on Thursday. 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 quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.72. The company has a market cap of $39.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

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.