SVB Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

SVB Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,027 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 31,255 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $10,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A traded down $3.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $137.14. The company had a trading volume of 394,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,562,316. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $151.58. The firm has a market cap of $40.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.27.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.