Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Agilent Technologies from “hold” to “buy.” Overall analyst sentiment is “Moderate Buy,” with 15 Buy ratings, four Holds, and a consensus price target of $173.65.
• Agilent’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $1.62 versus the $1.49 consensus and revenue of $1.88 billion, up 8.1% year over year.
• The stock opened at $172.77 and trades near its 52-week high of $177.47, while institutional investors recently added or initiated positions; a director separately sold 634 shares.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Thursday, July 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.65.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A stock opened at $172.77 on Friday. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $108.35 and a 1-year high of $177.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $48.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.21. The business's 50-day moving average price is $159.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.54.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The medical research company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.13. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.710-1.740 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.180-6.210 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 6.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, Director Mikael Dolsten sold 634 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.38, for a total transaction of $95,974.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $745,395.12. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,539,000. Dudley & Shanley Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 69,500 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,232,000 after acquiring an additional 14,300 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $834,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $1,818,000. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $8,161,000.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

Agilent Technologies, Inc is an analytical measurement and laboratory technology company serving the life sciences, diagnostics, pharmaceutical, chemical, environmental, food, energy and academic research markets. Its solutions help laboratories analyze the composition, quality and performance of materials, biological samples and other substances.

The company's products and services include liquid and gas chromatography systems, mass spectrometry instruments, spectroscopy equipment, laboratory automation tools, software, consumables and supplies.

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