TCW Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

TCW Group Inc. trimmed its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,263 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $38,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:A opened at $135.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $38.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.34.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

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.