Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives $141.29 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.29.

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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 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 report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 report on Friday, April 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

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

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in A. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $142.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $142.43 and a 200 day moving average of $132.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. Agilent Technologies has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $151.58.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 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.