Fifth Third Bancorp Reduces Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,363 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:A opened at $151.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $43.19 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.40%.

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.