Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Given New $145.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “in-line” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective points to a potential downside of 0.61% from the company’s previous close.

A has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.64.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE A traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $145.89. The stock had a trading volume of 421,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,716,395. The business’s fifty day moving average is $139.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,953 shares of company stock worth $2,013,630 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after buying an additional 4,605,228 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 valued at $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,242,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,926 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,793,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $362,081,000 after acquiring an additional 18,205 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,783,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $406,715,000 after acquiring an additional 116,822 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Agilent Technologies

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.