Grimes & Company Inc. Buys 3,392 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Grimes & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 112,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,392 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $16,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.5% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,978 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 86,355 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 20.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 142,052 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,884,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:A traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $129.63. The company had a trading volume of 9,817,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,764. The company has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $139.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.47. 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 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on A shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.88.

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.