Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, reports MarketBeat. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $161.36.
A number of equity analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $170.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $158.00 to $168.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd.
Agilent Technologies Stock Performance
Shares of A stock opened at $152.55 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.31. Agilent Technologies has a 52 week low of $112.52 and a 52 week high of $160.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $45.13 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.04.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 21st. The medical research company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.14. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.31% and a return on equity of 30.28%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equity research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.64 EPS for the current year.
Agilent Technologies Increases Dividends
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 30th. Agilent Technologies’ dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.58%.
Agilent Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, January 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 4.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 6,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,987.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 270,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,144,078.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 128,726 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.73, for a total value of $20,046,499.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,597,409.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 6,775 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,987.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 270,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,144,078.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 198,664 shares of company stock valued at $30,814,048 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,567 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,939 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,378,000 after purchasing an additional 5,125 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 493,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $73,824,000 after purchasing an additional 8,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,361,000. 85.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Agilent Technologies
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Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level.
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