Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Short Interest Update

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,910,000 shares, a decrease of 7.6% from the December 15th total of 3,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:A traded up $2.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $147.57. The stock had a trading volume of 3,210,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,210,953. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.40%.

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.