Wall Street Zen Downgrades Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) to Hold

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.25.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.2%

A opened at $128.69 on Friday. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $153.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $36.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The medical research company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 17.97%.The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.560-5.590 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.570-1.600 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of A. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 286.2% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 640.0% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000.

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.