SOL Capital Management CO Has $288,000 Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

SOL Capital Management CO cut its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 41.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in A. McAdam LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of A stock opened at $151.75 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

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.