Perpetual Ltd Lowers Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Perpetual Ltd decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 102,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,367 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 available through this link. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,785 shares of company stock worth $2,670,836 over the last ninety days.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $132.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $155.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on A. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $134.00 price objective (down from $145.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

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.