Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 11,847 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lowered its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 46.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,847 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,279,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,514,556,000 after buying an additional 206,865 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,841,659,000 after buying an additional 2,170,219 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after buying an additional 1,519,134 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $509,904,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,749,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,313,000 after buying an additional 153,630 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.13.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A opened at $126.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $139.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.35. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.