Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Stock Price

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price objective lowered by Bank of America from $153.00 to $150.00 in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $139.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $136.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $191,193,000 after purchasing an additional 493,947 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $49,449,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,073,000 after buying an additional 313,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 63.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,075,000 after buying an additional 227,431 shares during the period. 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.