Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target Cut to $135.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.58.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of A opened at $102.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.80.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,638 shares of company stock worth $731,229.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in A. JLB & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 29,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 3,730 shares during the period. Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 28.8% during the first quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 40,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,766,000 after buying an additional 9,120 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 162.8% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 873 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period.

About Agilent Technologies

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.