Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $144.36.

A number of research firms have issued reports on A. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.0 %

A stock opened at $125.70 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $36.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $138.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.83. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $112.39 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in A. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 231.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 494 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 54,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares in 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.