Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.92.

Several research firms have recently commented on A. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 23rd. SVB Leerink dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $175.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Agilent Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday.

In related news, SVP Michael Tang sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.21, for a total transaction of $164,814.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Associated Banc Corp boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,554 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Glassman Wealth Services boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 230 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 1,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 2,151 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,111 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period.

NYSE A opened at $130.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.06. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $112.64 and a fifty-two week high of $179.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $126.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 24th. The medical research company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.04% and a net margin of 18.70%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 1st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

About Agilent Technologies (Get Rating)

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 cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.

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