Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $138.8333.

A number of research firms have recently commented on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $177,099.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $395,088,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 424.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,041,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $240,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652,244 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 132.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,354,111 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $277,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340,161 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 10.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,227,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,560,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,994 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.8% during the first quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 4,983,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $582,976,000 after purchasing an additional 824,243 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $118.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $33.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.22. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $153.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.88.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%.The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.