Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target to $155.00

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $157.00 to $155.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 9.21% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.14.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $141.93 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.60. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a market capitalization of $40.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $1,058,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 32.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,049,000 after buying an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $14,848,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

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.