Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 72.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 103,494 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 265,576 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of A. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 65.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $307,000. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 45.8% during the third quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 32,833 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 10,318 shares during the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 17.2% during the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 19,813 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Capital Partners LTD. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.6% during the third quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 1,146,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $128,224,000 after purchasing an additional 50,533 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE A opened at $133.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $39.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.08. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $151.58.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.