Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Trims Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 97.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 345 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 13,630 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $133.84 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.48 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $38.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $137.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.65.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

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.