Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.236 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, January 24th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 29th. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23.

Agilent Technologies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 16.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Agilent Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 15.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Agilent Technologies to earn $5.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.0%.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.5 %

A opened at $114.19 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $109.98 and its 200-day moving average is $118.19. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $160.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $33.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The medical research company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total value of $415,730.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,876,732.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 33,720 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.3% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,857,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 54,613 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after purchasing an additional 6,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 12,359 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $124.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 29th. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.44.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.