Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 6,185 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,705 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,185 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333 in the last ninety days.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded up $1.37 on Friday, hitting $137.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 754,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,651. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $151.58. The company has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company's revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.38%.

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.