Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Announces $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, NASDAQ reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.236 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st.

Agilent Technologies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 19.0% annually over the last three years. Agilent Technologies has a payout ratio of 16.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Agilent Technologies to earn $5.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.4%.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.9 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $148.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $138.91 and a 200-day moving average of $138.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Agilent Technologies has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on A. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,801,595. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,906 shares of company stock valued at $2,006,580. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.