Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 32,975 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 23.4%, selling 32,975 shares, leaving them with 107,792 shares worth $12.61 million.
• Agilent Technologies' stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating among analysts, with an average price target of $139.77 following various adjustments from multiple firms.
• The company reported a 6% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, earning $1.31 per share compared to expectations of $1.26.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 23.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,792 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 32,975 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $12,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in A. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,593 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,934 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 9,804 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,123 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,569,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 87.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,397,893.12. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock traded down $1.33 on Wednesday, hitting $118.78. 610,707 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,952,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $153.84. The stock has a market cap of $33.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.84 and a 200 day moving average of $117.86.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%.The business 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 company earned $1.22 EPS. Agilent Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.540-5.610 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $139.77.

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.