Sei Investments Co. Sells 15,319 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 190,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 15,319 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.07% of Agilent Technologies worth $24,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605,228 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,242,956,000 after buying an additional 1,042,926 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 2,116,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $294,307,000 after acquiring an additional 467,451 shares during the period. Finally, Oribel Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $60,186,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $141.87 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.39 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.60.

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.