Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 54.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,509 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,780 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,242,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,926 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,952,832,000 after purchasing an additional 809,149 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,073,000 after purchasing an additional 313,155 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,088,000 after purchasing an additional 203,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of A stock opened at $126.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.39 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $138.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.92.

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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

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.