Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 33,011 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 33,011 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $94,051,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $48,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $26,066,000.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $102.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $29.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $123.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.93.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on A shares. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,638 shares of company stock valued at $731,229 over the last quarter.

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.