Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $150.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $135.00. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.06.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $130.85 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.78. Agilent Technologies has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a market capitalization of $38.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 24,426 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 146.5% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 58,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,803 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $259,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 11.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 31,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,538,000 after purchasing an additional 3,324 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,255,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,146,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,134 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.