Hsbc Holdings PLC Lowers Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 894,972 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 12,349 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.31% of Agilent Technologies worth $116,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 172,458 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $23,977,000 after purchasing an additional 4,627 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 325,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,281,000 after purchasing an additional 149,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 55.2% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,574 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $139.01 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.50 and a 200 day moving average of $139.25. The company has a market cap of $40.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.60.

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.