Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Sells 282,749 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP has reduced its stake in Agilent Technologies by 24.8%, selling 282,749 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with a total of 857,791 shares.
• Agilent Technologies reported earnings of $1.31 per share for its latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.26, with revenue increasing by 6.0% year-over-year.
• The medical research company has a market capitalization of $33.79 billion and recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.248 per share, representing a yield of 0.8%.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP cut its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 24.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 857,791 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 282,749 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies accounts for approximately 1.6% of Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP owned about 0.30% of Agilent Technologies worth $100,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,162,783 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $136,012,000 after acquiring an additional 12,284 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 52,175 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,103,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 159,455 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $18,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 61,307 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $7,172,000 after acquiring an additional 3,335 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 71,624 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $8,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Six equities 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 a consensus target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $119.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,238,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,423,756. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.43 and a 52 week high of $153.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.08. The stock has a market cap of $33.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.22.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 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.