Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,348,471,000 after buying an additional 4,605,228 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,242,956,000 after buying an additional 1,042,926 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.7% in the second 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 buying an additional 809,149 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the first quarter worth about $61,218,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,073,000 after buying an additional 313,155 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $131.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.12. 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 1-year low of $100.26 and a 1-year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on A. UBS Group raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.36.

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.