Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.29.

Several brokerages have commented on A. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $139.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.30. The stock has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 1.13. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $151.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in A. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 33,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 49,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,525,000 after buying an additional 8,063 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,677,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $299,373,000 after acquiring an additional 124,671 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 45.6% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter.

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.