Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target Raised to $125.00 at Barclays

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its target price increased by Barclays from $115.00 to $125.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.92.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $117.71 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% 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 this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 640.0% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 286.2% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $34,000.

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.