Padraig Mcdonnell Sells 1,911 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Stock

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $152.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $137.50 and its 200-day moving average is $137.79. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on A. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,049,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,456 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,828,000 after buying an additional 3,612 shares during the last quarter.

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.