Praxis Investment Management Inc. Has $1.09 Million Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,520 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sienna Gestion lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 78,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,537,000 after buying an additional 17,991 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,843,000 after acquiring an additional 10,128 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,892,000 after acquiring an additional 3,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,802 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $115.61 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $110.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.59. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $153.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $32.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.23.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies 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.