Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $160.00. The stock had previously closed at $134.49, but opened at $127.02. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Agilent Technologies shares last traded at $128.54, with a volume of 240,432 shares.

A has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after buying an additional 29,590 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,355,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,058,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $137.82 and its 200 day moving average is $137.54. The company has a market capitalization of $38.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.50%.

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.