Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:A traded up $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $136.10. 370,216 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,729,282. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $135.66 and a 200-day moving average of $136.51. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of A. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

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.