Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Short Interest Update

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a drop of 12.2% from the November 15th total of 3,270,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the third 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,948,536 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $437,799,000 after acquiring an additional 136,184 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE A traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $139.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,474,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,722,025. Agilent Technologies 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 $136.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for 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 company's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.62.

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.

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