American International Group Inc. Trims Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

American International Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 78,637 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $11,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on A. Bank of America lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.06.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $3.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $134.22. 2,066,682 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,779,427. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $135.29 and its 200-day moving average is $137.53.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.