Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Raises Dividend to $0.25 Per Share

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 21st,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.248 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, January 22nd. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24.

Agilent Technologies has raised its dividend by an average of 19.0% annually over the last three years. Agilent Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 16.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Agilent Technologies to earn $5.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.4%.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock traded up $2.98 on Thursday, hitting $131.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,541,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,705,815. The firm has a market cap of $37.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.76. 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 has a twelve month low of $123.48 and a twelve month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.36.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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.