Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives $140.71 Average Price Target from Analysts

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.29.

A number of research analysts recently commented on A shares. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at $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 worth $9,220,333.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.5% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Monumental Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 8,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of A stock opened at $145.00 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $140.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.62. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $151.58. The company has a market capitalization of $42.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

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.