UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 11,358 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,358 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on A. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.3 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $120.35 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.17 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $34.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $135.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

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.