Brokerages Set Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Price Target at $136.50

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $136.88.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $130.80 on Friday. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $139.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.45.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of A. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605,228 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $509,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,841,659,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170,219 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 233.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,666,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 262.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,292,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $318,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,768 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.