KCM Investment Advisors LLC Has $904,000 Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,087 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 803 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $288,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 7.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,408,000 after purchasing an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 14.8% during the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on A. Barclays lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 2.4 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $127.07 on Friday. 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 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 PE ratio of 26.36, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.06 and a 52 week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,510 over the last three months.

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.