Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $161.0833.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $153.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.51 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.77. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $160.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The medical research company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.01. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 17.97%.The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.380 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 5.860-6.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total transaction of $130,491.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 32,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,591,987.92. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,997,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,012,086,000 after purchasing an additional 589,219 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,227,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,560,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,994 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,380,521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,203,990,000 after buying an additional 433,342 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,319,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $860,137,000 after buying an additional 115,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 10.1% in the third quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,357,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $816,043,000 after buying an additional 582,093 shares in the last quarter. 87.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.