Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $387,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 78.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 10,260 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $280,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $499,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,408,000 after buying an additional 3,152 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,991 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,926,000 after buying an additional 15,435 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $121.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $138.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.96. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.17 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on A. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America cut 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

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.