Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The medical research company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04, MarketWatch Earnings reports. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE A opened at $113.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.04. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $160.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 29th. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on A shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Thursday, September 28th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $123.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total transaction of $415,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,876,732.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.3% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $895,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 52.1% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,246,209,000 after purchasing an additional 261,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. 85.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.