Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Paloma Partners Management Co

Paloma Partners Management Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,344 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,419 shares during the quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.6% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,841 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 953.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,757,000 after buying an additional 29,590 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 45.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,620 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,982,000 after buying an additional 4,274 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 36.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 731 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 54.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.40.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.2 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $139.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,714,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,121,201. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.55 and a 200 day moving average of $136.95. The stock has a market cap of $40.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 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 an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 21.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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.