Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,020 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 414 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 29,590 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth about $1,355,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $1,058,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after acquiring an additional 4,605,228 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $127.07 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.06 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 19.50%.

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.