Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 5,422 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,484 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,422 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 82,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,062,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,442 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,571 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $151.34 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $139.77 and a 200 day moving average of $138.56. The stock has a market cap of $43.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.248 dividend. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

About Agilent Technologies

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.