Jump Financial LLC Cuts Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Jump Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,744 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,805 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in A. CKW Financial Group grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $102.83 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.43 and a one year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.00.

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.