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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $151.24 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $138.43 and its 200-day moving average is $138.06. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $43.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.62.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CKW Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 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.