Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $143.62.

A has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after buying an additional 30,610 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,603,000 after buying an additional 80,819 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:A opened at $136.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $39.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.82 and a 200-day moving average of $136.72.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released 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. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

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.