Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 866,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $128,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $127.07 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.06 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $138.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.00. The firm has a market cap 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 (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510 over the last 90 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group increased 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, Bank of America increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.