Anchor Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Anchor Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 31.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 390 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the first quarter valued at $34,000. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on A. Citigroup boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,650,640. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $274,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,076 shares in the company, valued at $3,650,640. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,953 shares of company stock valued at $2,013,630. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $144.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.09. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued 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 net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

About Agilent Technologies

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.