Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) CEO Padraig Mcdonnell Sells 1,911 Shares

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.1 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $152.41 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.79.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in A. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,049,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,456 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

About Agilent Technologies

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.