PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,259 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $24,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 29,590 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.2% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 4,523 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,355,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,058,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A opened at $131.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.72. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.48 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 19.50%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on A shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.