Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.36.

A has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

A opened at $133.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies has a twelve month low of $123.48 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $38.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $137.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.61.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $236,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 145,478 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $21,601,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

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.