Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Stock Price

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A traded up $2.57 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $102.83. The stock had a trading volume of 2,321,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,862,848. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $118.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.00. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of A. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $456,963,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,051,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15,648.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 627,247 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $73,375,000 after purchasing an additional 623,264 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 345.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 769,897 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $103,428,000 after purchasing an additional 597,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $80,110,000.

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.