Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target Increased to $135.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $133.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $144.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.50. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,744,000 after buying an additional 1,532 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 51,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,420,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,221 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter.

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.