Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $160.00. The stock had previously closed at $134.49, but opened at $127.02. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Agilent Technologies shares last traded at $128.54, with a volume of 240,432 shares traded.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in A. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.82 and its 200-day moving average is $137.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 19.50%.

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.