JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target to $155.00

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $160.00 to $155.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 38.60% from the company’s previous close.

A has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3%

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $111.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.27. Agilent Technologies has a one year low of $96.43 and a one year high of $153.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $108.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.47.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in A. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,442 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 82,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares during the period.

About Agilent Technologies

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.