Paloma Partners Management Co Sells 4,419 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Paloma Partners Management Co lowered its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 26.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,344 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,419 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $139.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.15.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on A shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.