Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Short Interest Update

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the February 14th total of 3,210,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Bank of America cut shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $133.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.31.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $147.04. 316,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,615,214. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $135.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $151.58.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.78, for a total value of $402,566.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,792,538.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.78, for a total value of $402,566.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,792,538.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,663 shares of company stock valued at $9,205,804 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 4,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $135,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,279,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,514,556,000 after purchasing an additional 206,865 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 4,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Shipley& Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 29,206 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares in the last quarter. 85.42% of the stock is 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.