Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Liontrust Investment Partners LLP

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP cut its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 24.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 857,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 282,749 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies accounts for about 1.6% of Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $100,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of A. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $247,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 9,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on A shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A opened at $118.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $117.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.72. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $153.84. The stock has a market cap of $33.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.22.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 24.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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.