Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,662,430 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 18,360 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Agilent Technologies worth $246,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 440 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.36.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $1.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $133.84. 2,067,844 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,964,200. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $38.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.48 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is presently 20.54%.

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.