Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,270,000 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the October 31st total of 3,460,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on A. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped 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 research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.40.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $139.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $137.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.95.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 29,590 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth $1,058,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,049,000 after acquiring an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $14,848,000.

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.