Ascent Group LLC Buys 186 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 9.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,061 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the first quarter worth about $34,000.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $137.36. 1,222,648 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,772,071. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $134.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $40.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.06.

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.