Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $121.45 and last traded at $122.51, with a volume of 516043 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $126.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 2.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $35.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.08.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $104,327,000 after acquiring an additional 68,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $362,000.

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.