Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Harvey Investment Co. LLC

Harvey Investment Co. LLC decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 213,377 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,755 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies comprises 2.8% of Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $24,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,250,276,000 after purchasing an additional 59,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $938,291,000 after purchasing an additional 53,992 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after purchasing an additional 47,495 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $596,026,000 after purchasing an additional 38,348 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $563,259,000 after buying an additional 457,713 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on A. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of A stock opened at $115.61 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $110.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

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.