Barclays Cuts Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target to $135.00

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $145.00 to $135.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.40.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $137.98 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $137.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.37. The company has a market cap of $39.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.27%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 81 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.