Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,776 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 60,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,815,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.3% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth about $203,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth about $11,636,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 29,300.0% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE A traded up $3.78 during trading on Thursday, reaching $130.85. 1,667,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,788,479. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.78. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $38.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Agilent Technologies 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 transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.06.

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.