Quadrature Capital Ltd Has $2.73 Million Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Quadrature Capital Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 69.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,360 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 40,896 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:A opened at $137.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on A shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.40.

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.