Ieq Capital LLC Has $2.10 Million Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.9% in the first quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 440 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.7% in the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 4,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.4% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $140.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $137.87 and its 200-day moving average is $139.21. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on A. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.60.

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.