Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 26.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,255 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,450 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 4,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monumental Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A traded down $1.89 on Tuesday, reaching $131.53. 951,844 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,772,455. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.55. The firm has a market cap of $38.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 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 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.