Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Shares Gap Up to $133.91

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $133.91, but opened at $137.98. Agilent Technologies shares last traded at $137.29, with a volume of 179,936 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. 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. 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $40.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.33.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $307,000. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 18,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 38.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,670 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $426,000.

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.