Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $143.62.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on A shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:A traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $139.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,474,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,722,025. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $136.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.37. Agilent Technologies has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently 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.