Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 6,775 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $910,763.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 191,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,724,255.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.7%
Shares of A opened at $138.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.04. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.52 and a 12-month high of $165.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 16th. The medical research company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.94% and a return on equity of 28.46%. Agilent Technologies’ revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.
Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 4th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 3rd. Agilent Technologies’ dividend payout ratio is currently 19.13%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 175,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $21,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $134,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 121,550 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,774,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 23.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,108,000 after buying an additional 9,562 shares in the last quarter.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equity research analysts have issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 17th. Cowen lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 22nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.31.
About Agilent Technologies
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Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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 analyzers; cell imaging systems; microplate readers; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.
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