Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) receives a “Neutral” rating from Bank of America

Bank of America maintained its neutral rating on the company’s shares Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Free Report) – according to Benzinga, in a report published on Thursday. The company now has a $134.00 price target on shares of this medical research company, up from the previous price target of $145.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on A. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a Neutral rating on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered the price target for Agilent Technologies shares from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a Neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $126.00 and set an outright rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One equity market research analyst gave the stock a sell recommendation, five maintained it and eleven gave it a buy recommendation. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.81.

Check out our latest stock report on Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies shares fell 9.7%

It opened at $131.42 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.79 and a two-hundred-day simple moving average of $136.98. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt to equity ratio of 0.41.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported EPS of $1.22 for the quarter, $0.03 above the consensus estimate of $1.19. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.27 per share. The company’s revenue declined 8.4% year-over-year. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.5 earnings per share in the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies announces dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24. Investors of record will receive a dividend of $0.236 per share on Tuesday, July 2. This translates into an annual dividend of $0.94 and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date for this dividend is Tuesday, July 2. Agilent Technologies’ payout ratio is 22.38%.

Confidential activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of USD 150.00, for a total transaction amount of USD 7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the CEO now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, available at this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the CEO now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Additionally, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction amount of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,935,235.84. The announcement of this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold a total of 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333. 0.33% of the shares are owned by company insiders.

Institutional investors comment on Agilent technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds recently made changes to their positions in A. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. In the fourth quarter, MV Capital Management Inc. increased its shares in Agilent Technologies by 120.7%. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Ultimately, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired new shares of Agilent Technologies stock during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. 87.42% of the shares are currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Agilent technologies

(Get the free report)

Agilent Technologies, Inc delivers application-focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemicals 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; instruments for microwave spectrometry and atomic emission spectrometry; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; Raman spectroscopy; Plate-based assays for cell analysis; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotization systems; dissolution test; and vacuum pumps and measurement technologies.

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