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

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

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on A. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a hold rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $136.88.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE A opened at $130.80 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 18.84%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of A. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605,228 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,841,659,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170,219 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,146,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,134 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,242,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $509,904,000. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.