Ethic Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its stake in Agilent Technologies by 37.1% in the second quarter, now holding 19,163 shares valued at approximately $2.28 million.
• Agilent Technologies reported $1.37 earnings per share for the last quarter, meeting analysts' expectations and demonstrating a 10.1% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• In recent analyst ratings, UBS upgraded Agilent from "neutral" to "buy" with a price target increase from $130 to $170, while several other firms also raised their price targets.

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,163 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 11,288 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,674 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,362 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 13,358 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $1,999,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,474 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Capital Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 768,252 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $89,870,000 after acquiring an additional 54,302 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of A opened at $148.03 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $153.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $130.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.20. The stock has a market cap of $41.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.26.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The medical research company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.37. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.97% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.560-5.590 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.570-1.600 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is presently 23.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on A shares. UBS Group raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.62.

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.

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