Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) – Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group lifted their Q2 2023 EPS estimates for Agilent Technologies in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group analyst B. Couillard now expects that the medical research company will earn $1.26 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.22. The consensus estimate for Agilent Technologies’ current full-year earnings is $5.68 per share. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Agilent Technologies’ Q3 2023 earnings at $1.41 EPS and Q4 2023 earnings at $1.62 EPS.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.09% and a return on equity of 30.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year.
A number of other research firms have also commented on A. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $152.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 20th. Cowen raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperforming” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Two equity research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.31.
Agilent Technologies Price Performance
Shares of A opened at $143.93 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $150.95 and its 200-day moving average is $142.68. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $112.52 and a fifty-two week high of $160.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.47.
Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 20.32%.
Agilent Technologies declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, January 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to acquire up to 4.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies
In related news, VP Padraig Mcdonnell sold 672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $107,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,484,640. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed via this hyperlink. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Padraig Mcdonnell sold 672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $107,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,529 shares in the company, valued at $2,484,640. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Henrik Ancher-Jensen sold 29,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.78, for a total transaction of $4,595,510.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 70,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,028,133.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,172 shares of company stock worth $6,681,760 in the last quarter.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cascade Investment Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $575,000. Natixis grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 200.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 114,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,141,000 after acquiring an additional 76,388 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. American Trust grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. American Trust now owns 7,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 3,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein LP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein LP now owns 450,757 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $67,456,000 after acquiring an additional 61,576 shares in the last quarter.
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.
Further Reading
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