Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) saw a large drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a drop of 35.1% from the May 31st total of 4,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of A traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $129.63. 9,817,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,591,764. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $139.56 and a 200-day moving average of $138.40.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,978 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 146,399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,370,000 after purchasing an additional 20,450 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 408.0% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 246.7% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after buying an additional 38,737 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on A. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.88.

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.