Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,407 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 63,237 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,407 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $9,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in A. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on A shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. 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 note on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE A opened at $137.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one 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, 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

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

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.