UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Reduces Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies accounts for about 1.3% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1,111.1% during the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $141.27. 1,479,559 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,529,879. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $151.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $142.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.01. The company has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last three months.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

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.