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

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,460,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 3,240,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,995 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,510.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,348,471,000 after buying an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,242,956,000 after buying an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $126.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,443,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,706,001. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $138.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.00. The firm has a market cap of $36.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a 52 week low of $112.39 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus 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.