Raiffeisen Bank International AG Sells 4,283 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG reduced its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.7%, selling 4,283 shares and holding 251,789 shares worth $29.38 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Agilent Technologies has recently received varied changes in its price target from analysts, with TD Cowen increasing their target to $150.00 and others, like Wells Fargo, lowering it to $135.00.
• The company reported a net margin of 17.59% and earnings of $1.31 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.05.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG decreased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 251,789 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,283 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG owned 0.09% of Agilent Technologies worth $29,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $4,279,000 after buying an additional 4,362 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $9,843,000 after buying an additional 10,128 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 30,827 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,606,000 after buying an additional 2,371 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 13,358 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 322,224 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $43,289,000 after purchasing an additional 51,144 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on A. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.1%

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $113.51 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $153.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.64.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 24.44%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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.

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