Bank of America Boosts Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target to $140.00

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $134.00 to $140.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a hold rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $136.88.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $134.72 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $96.80 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 731 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 110,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,051,000 after buying an additional 4,736 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after buying an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 27,431 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,991,000 after buying an additional 2,699 shares in the last quarter.

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.