Agilent Technologies’ (A) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reissued their neutral rating on shares of Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $134.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $145.00.

A has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $137.19.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.8 %

A opened at $130.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.45 and a 200-day moving average of $137.48. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a market capitalization of $38.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 1.13.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock valued at $9,220,333 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 120.7% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000.

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.