Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,150,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the November 30th total of 2,870,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on A shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,610 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,948,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,799,000 after buying an additional 136,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $134.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.62.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.