The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 21,201 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 238,077 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 21,201 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.08% of Agilent Technologies worth $30,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,952,832,000 after purchasing an additional 809,149 shares during the period. Oribel Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,186,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A opened at $148.48 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $139.21 and a 200 day moving average of $139.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,953 shares of company stock worth $2,013,630. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.93.

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.