Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, reports Marketbeat Ratings. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $151.31.
A has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 17th. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, August 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 17th.
Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.2 %
Shares of A stock opened at $146.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $112.52 and a 1-year high of $165.68. The company has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.82.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 16th. The medical research company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Agilent Technologies has a return on equity of 28.46% and a net margin of 19.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equity research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Agilent Technologies Increases Dividends
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 30th. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Agilent Technologies’ dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.13%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies
In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Padraig Mcdonnell sold 2,103 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $258,437.67. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,624,237.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Padraig Mcdonnell sold 2,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $258,437.67. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,624,237.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed via this link. Also, SVP Michael Tang sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.50, for a total value of $502,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,037,560. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,309 shares of company stock worth $4,846,147.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of A. Bromfield Sneider Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 34.8% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 53.0% during the third quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 303 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, JW Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 7,201.6% during the first quarter. JW Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 124,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 122,788 shares in the last quarter.
About Agilent Technologies
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Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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 cytometers; real-time cell analyzers; cell imaging systems; microplate readers; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.
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