Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 963,126 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $107,697,000 after acquiring an additional 237,870 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 11.5% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,978 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 259.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 119,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,375,000 after buying an additional 86,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,785 shares of company stock valued at $2,670,836 over the last 90 days.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.4 %

A traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $133.25. 4,461,292 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,344,093. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $38.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.32.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $134.00 price target (down from $145.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.50.

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.