Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Stock Rating Lowered by Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research lowered shares of Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $153.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $136.88.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $129.63 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $139.56 and a 200 day moving average of $138.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,978 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,174,000 after acquiring an additional 11,075 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 60,727 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,790,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 195.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 25,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,803,000 after acquiring an additional 16,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 146,399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,370,000 after purchasing an additional 20,450 shares during the period.

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.