Weaver Capital Management LLC Sells 292 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Weaver Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,239 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sienna Gestion boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,537,000 after purchasing an additional 17,991 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares during the period. Prudential PLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,843,000 after purchasing an additional 10,128 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,915 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,802 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on A. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of A stock opened at $115.61 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $110.67 and its 200-day moving average is $124.70. The stock has a market cap of $32.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.86%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 24.44%.

Insider Activity

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

Agilent Technologies Company 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.