Insider Selling: Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) CEO Sells $286,650.00 in Stock

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.8 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $151.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $138.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.248 dividend. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CKW Financial Group lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on A. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

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.