Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $97.37 and last traded at $98.97, with a volume of 4525087 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $103.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on A. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.90. The stock has a market cap of $28.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 569,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $66,563,000 after buying an additional 15,137 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 115.2% during the first quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 91,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,719,000 after acquiring an additional 49,046 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 15,648.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 627,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $73,375,000 after acquiring an additional 623,264 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,182,000. Finally, 111 Capital bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $668,000. 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.