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

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $143.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CKW Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 187 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 286.2% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.10. The stock had a trading volume of 368,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,862,073. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.61.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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.