Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives $142.93 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $143.64.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on A shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.7 %

A stock opened at $143.89 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $140.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.97. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,953 shares of company stock valued at $2,013,630 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,080 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $18,229,000 after buying an additional 11,498 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 469,486 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $65,273,000 after buying an additional 4,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.