Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 319,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 12,596 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies comprises 1.3% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $47,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.8 %

A stock traded up $3.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $138.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,336,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,730,408. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.43.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 20.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on A. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.