Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $120.73 and last traded at $120.94, with a volume of 126964 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $121.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $34.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.20. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.55.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,250,276,000 after acquiring an additional 59,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $938,291,000 after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,213,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,414,000 after acquiring an additional 47,495 shares during the last quarter.

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.