Cascade Investment Group Inc. Trims Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. reduced its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,179 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,916 shares of company stock worth $2,527,860 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $1.39 on Wednesday, hitting $136.03. 1,090,040 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,760,218. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $132.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

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.