Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on October 23rd

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of 0.236 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st.

Agilent Technologies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 19.0% annually over the last three years. Agilent Technologies has a payout ratio of 16.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Agilent Technologies to earn $5.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.4%.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $141.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.27. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research cut Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.