Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives $144.36 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $144.36.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on A shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $133.84 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $137.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.67. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $123.48 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $38.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 19.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $236,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 145,478 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $21,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.7% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter.

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.