Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A has been the subject of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of A opened at $136.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.53.

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 company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Dudley & Shanley Inc. bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $8,300,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,187,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $535,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.2% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.