Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.60.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $274,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,650,640. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 3,162 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,678,755 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $233,397,000 after acquiring an additional 51,490 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 614,742 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,468,000 after acquiring an additional 13,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $136.43 on Friday. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $39.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $136.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.14.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

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.