Short Interest in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Rises By 10.5%

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, an increase of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,351,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,516. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 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 net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $274,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of A. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $938,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 29,590 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 325,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,281,000 after purchasing an additional 149,159 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,609,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $223,758,000 after purchasing an additional 343,175 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research lowered Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.60.

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.