Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target Raised to $135.00 at Leerink Partners

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Leerink Partners to $135.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. Leerink Partners currently has a buy rating on the medical research company's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on A. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.15.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:A traded down $1.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $111.83. 4,751,122 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,929,518. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.27. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $108.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.66. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. Agilent Technologies's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 240,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 buying an additional 59,781 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 53,992 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,341,870 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $624,888,000 after purchasing an additional 128,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.8% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

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.