Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for Agilent Technologies, Inc.’s Q2 2023 Earnings (NYSE:A)

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) – Zacks Research dropped their Q2 2023 earnings per share estimates for shares of Agilent Technologies in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, March 14th. Zacks Research analyst S. Mete now forecasts that the medical research company will earn $1.26 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.29. The consensus estimate for Agilent Technologies’ current full-year earnings is $5.68 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Agilent Technologies’ Q3 2023 earnings at $1.42 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $5.65 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $1.49 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $1.46 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.49 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.73 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $6.16 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $6.81 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Cowen raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.31.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A stock opened at $136.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.79. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $112.52 and a twelve month high of $160.26. The firm has a market cap of $40.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 19.09%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,261,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 91.9% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286 shares in the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 630,778 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $76,671,000 after buying an additional 8,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the second quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 3rd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.32%.

Agilent Technologies announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, January 9th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Agilent Technologies

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Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level.