SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 44,510 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 72.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,696 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 44,510 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after buying an additional 59,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $938,291,000 after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $700,414,000 after purchasing an additional 47,495 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $596,026,000 after purchasing an additional 38,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $2.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $116.10. 1,577,127 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,912,318. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $153.84. 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 (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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%. Agilent Technologies's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Agilent Technologies's 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.