Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target Cut to $155.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $157.00 to $155.00 in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on A. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.14.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $141.22 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $40.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $137.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.54.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.