Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 13,996 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,308 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 13,996 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $10,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.4% in the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,497 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 41,334 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,835,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.6% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,931,794 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $342,961,000 after acquiring an additional 102,365 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Six 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

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

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $124.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $153.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.94 and a 200-day moving average of $122.93.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

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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