Short Interest in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Declines By 7.6%

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,910,000 shares, a decline of 7.6% from the December 15th total of 3,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on A shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $147.57. 3,210,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,210,953. The company has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.34. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000.

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.