JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target to $155.00

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $160.00 to $155.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the medical research company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective points to a potential upside of 38.60% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on A. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.3%

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $1.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $111.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,751,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,133. The company has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.09. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $108.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.47. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in A. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,408,626 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,908,141,000 after acquiring an additional 240,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% in the fourth 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $938,291,000 after acquiring an additional 53,992 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,341,870 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $624,888,000 after buying an additional 128,131 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP increased 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 in 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.