Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Sets New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Agilent Technologies shares hit a new 52-week high of $182.99 and were recently trading near $181, supported by strong momentum above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is favorable: 18 analysts rate the stock Buy and four rate it Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $181.45; Deutsche Bank recently initiated coverage with a $190 target.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.62 in EPS versus $1.49 expected and $1.88 billion in revenue, up 8.1% year over year. Agilent also declared a $0.255 quarterly dividend, equal to a 0.6% annualized yield.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $182.99 and last traded at $181.0470, with a volume of 684,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $181.45.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $162.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.93.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The medical research company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 6.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.2550 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 20.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Mikael Dolsten sold 634 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.38, for a total transaction of $95,974.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $745,395.12. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 87.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,233,964 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $695,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440,360 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth about $260,101,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth about $213,269,000. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth about $179,257,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $176,318,000.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc is a global provider of analytical laboratory instruments, software, services and consumables. The company serves customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, food, environmental, energy and academic research sectors, as well as diagnostic and clinical laboratories.

Agilent's offerings include liquid and gas chromatography systems, mass spectrometry instruments, spectroscopy and atomic instruments, laboratory automation products, genomic and cell analysis solutions, and related software.

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