Stifel Financial Corp Cuts Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 65.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,220 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 86,708 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $6,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 69,211 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $10,277,000 after purchasing an additional 15,533 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 535.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,550 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,087,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 9,681 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 66,981 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A traded down $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $139.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,474,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,722,025. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $136.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.44. The firm has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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. StockNews.com cut Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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, Citigroup upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies 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.