Cerity Partners LLC Has $5.79 Million Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,520 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 19,379 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 286.2% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 640.0% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth about $31,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 2.1%

A traded down $2.39 on Friday, reaching $113.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,521,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,865,254. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $153.84. The company has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.30.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.44%.

Agilent Technologies 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.