Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 1st

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.248 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st.

Agilent Technologies has raised its dividend by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years. Agilent Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 16.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Agilent Technologies to earn $6.13 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.99 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.2%.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $136.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.28. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.38.

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.