The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A)

Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $170.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.46% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $143.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $145.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.71. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $160.27.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The medical research company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.20% and a net margin of 18.75%.Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.380 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.860-6.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.99, for a total transaction of $464,970.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 31,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,811.54. This trade represents a 8.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 12,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $1,873,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 33,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,017,200. This trade represents a 27.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,401 shares of company stock worth $2,468,962.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,997,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,012,086,000 after purchasing an additional 589,219 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,227,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,560,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,994 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,380,521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,203,990,000 after acquiring an additional 433,342 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,319,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $860,137,000 after purchasing an additional 115,183 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.1% during the third quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,357,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $816,043,000 after purchasing an additional 582,093 shares during 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.