Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Shares Gap Up to $133.91

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $133.91, but opened at $137.98. Agilent Technologies shares last traded at $137.29, with a volume of 179,936 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 3.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $141.21 and a 200-day moving average of $130.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,863,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 12.1% during the first quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 9,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 52.8% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 27.4% during the first quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 22.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 128,447 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,690,000 after purchasing an additional 23,473 shares in the last quarter.

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.