Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Sold by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 12.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.3% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 244,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,690,000 after purchasing an additional 39,468 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,464,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $319,458,000 after acquiring an additional 193,012 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 84,958 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,013,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,386,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $309,302,000 after buying an additional 52,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $137.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on A shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.