Agilent Technologies, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 (NYSE:A)

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, NASDAQ reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.236 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st.

Agilent Technologies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 19.0% annually over the last three years. Agilent Technologies has a payout ratio of 16.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Agilent Technologies to earn $5.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.4%.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $148.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.05. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,906 shares of company stock worth $2,006,580 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.