Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,942,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 72,001 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $381,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.93.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,906 shares of company stock valued at $2,006,580 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $148.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.91 and its 200 day moving average is $139.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year 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. The company has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

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.