Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.9% during the first quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $127.07 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.06 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510 over the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies 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.