Bank of America Cuts Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target to $150.00

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Bank of America from $153.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the medical research company's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on A. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:A traded down $1.91 on Friday, hitting $139.00. 1,474,294 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,722,025. The company has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. 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 50-day moving average price of $136.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.52.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS 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 $0.248 dividend. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in A. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,910 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 331.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,148 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,698 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 196.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 832 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,058,000. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company's stock.

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.