Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives $141.60 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.60.

Several research firms have issued reports on A. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth $938,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 29,590 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 325,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,281,000 after acquiring an additional 149,159 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $223,758,000 after acquiring an additional 343,175 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 4,523 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $138.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $136.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.17. The company has a market cap of $40.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a P/E/G ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

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.