Rockland Trust Co. Sells 201 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Rockland Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of A. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $60,000. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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, Citigroup upped their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $142.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.96.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. 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.