Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Short Interest Update

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,150,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the November 30th total of 2,870,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $134.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $135.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.64.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

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.