Guggenheim Capital LLC Has $1.47 Million Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lowered its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,062 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,560 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 24,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 4,153 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,638 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $143.93 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.95 and a 200-day moving average of $142.68. The company has a market cap of $42.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $112.52 and a one year high of $160.26.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.09% and a return on equity of 30.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 20.32%.

Agilent Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, January 9th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 4.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on A shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $158.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.31.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Henrik Ancher-Jensen sold 29,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.78, for a total transaction of $4,595,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 70,793 shares in the company, valued at $11,028,133.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Boon Hwee Koh sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.21, for a total transaction of $1,978,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 57,752 shares in the company, valued at $8,790,431.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Henrik Ancher-Jensen sold 29,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.78, for a total transaction of $4,595,510.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 70,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,028,133.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,172 shares of company stock worth $6,681,760.

About Agilent Technologies

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Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level.