Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $135.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $135.40 and a 200 day moving average of $136.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $124.16 and a 1-year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.