Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 50,731 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Primecap Management Co. CA lessened its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,905,840 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 50,731 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.66% of Agilent Technologies worth $282,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 231.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 494 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,326 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 168,461 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $24,513,000 after acquiring an additional 3,657 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 148,800 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $21,652,000 after acquiring an additional 28,720 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $128.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $121.23 and a one year high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $138.06 and a 200 day moving average of $137.76.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on A. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.