Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 95.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 523 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,348,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,242,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,218,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,073,000 after purchasing an additional 313,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $130.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $111.33 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $139.09 and a 200-day moving average of $138.14. The firm has a market cap of $37.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,995 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,510 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.