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

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $143.62.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup upped 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. Bank of America dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32.3% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,049,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in 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 worth $1,952,832,000 after buying an additional 809,149 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $139.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $136.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.44. The company has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.