Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 996 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after buying an additional 4,605,228 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,952,832,000 after buying an additional 809,149 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,242,956,000 after buying an additional 1,042,926 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,793,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $362,081,000 after buying an additional 18,205 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,783,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $406,715,000 after buying an additional 116,822 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,640. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,640. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,953 shares of company stock valued at $2,013,630 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 3.8 %

A stock opened at $139.10 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.86. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a PEG ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.36.

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.