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

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, an increase of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 2,860,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the first quarter valued at $34,000. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE A traded up $2.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $140.73. 501,753 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,710,729. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. Agilent Technologies has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $137.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.25.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on A. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.60.

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.