Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) VP Rodney Gonsalves Sells 1,908 Shares

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $123.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,412,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,856,093. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.82. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in A. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $94,051,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 345.9% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 769,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $103,428,000 after purchasing an additional 597,249 shares during the last quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,110,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 280.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 806,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $108,398,000 after purchasing an additional 594,744 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.15.

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.