Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) PT Raised to $135.00 at Barclays

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A opened at $144.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $42.25 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $151.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 over the last quarter.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $895,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,246,209,000 after purchasing an additional 261,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 281 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.