Boston Common Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 97.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,555 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 57,170 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of A opened at $147.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.