Barclays PLC lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 19.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 753,737 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 181,777 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.26% of Agilent Technologies worth $111,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,058,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $47,049,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,848,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company's stock.
Agilent Technologies Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE A traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,848,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,702. The firm has a market cap of $40.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $137.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.54. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for 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%. Agilent Technologies's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.40%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.14.
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About Agilent Technologies
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Free Report)
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.
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