First Horizon Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,227 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,242,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,926 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,952,832,000 after buying an additional 809,149 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,073,000 after acquiring an additional 313,155 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 63.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,075,000 after acquiring an additional 227,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,088,000 after acquiring an additional 203,234 shares in the last quarter.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A stock opened at $128.57 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.23 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $36.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 19.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.36.

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.