Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Hits New 12-Month Low on Insider Selling

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $112.75 and last traded at $115.96, with a volume of 1947367 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.05.

Specifically, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on A. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 6.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $130.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 640.0% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.