Windward Capital Management Co. CA Trims Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Windward Capital Management Co. CA lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 12.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,337 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 604 shares during the period. Windward Capital Management Co. CA’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s 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 $3,650,640. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,557,230. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $137.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.62 and a 200-day moving average of $139.06. The stock has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.