Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 1,330 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,820 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 16,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 242.5% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 21,272 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 15,061 shares during the period. Finally, Sienna Gestion acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,794,000. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $140.09 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.16. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced 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 firm 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 business earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

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.