Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Short Interest Update

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,460,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 3,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.06. 175,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,698,935. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $112.39 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $36.51 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 19.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,510 in the last three months.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of A. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $236,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 145,478 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $21,601,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.7% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.3% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.36.

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.