Machina Capital S.A.S. Sells 935 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Machina Capital S.A.S. reduced its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 24.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,901 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 935 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wunderlich Capital Managemnt increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the second quarter. Wunderlich Capital Managemnt now owns 17,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter valued at $265,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.9% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 231,822 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,877,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. Summitry LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 66.3% during the second quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 425,786 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $51,201,000 after acquiring an additional 169,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,498,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $420,720,000 after acquiring an additional 34,114 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total transaction of $415,730.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,732.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A opened at $107.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.04. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $160.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The medical research company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 16.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.