Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $180.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.65.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock opened at $169.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.21. Agilent Technologies has a 12 month low of $108.35 and a 12 month high of $177.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The medical research company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.13. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.710-1.740 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.180-6.210 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 6.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a $0.2550 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 20.08%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Mikael Dolsten sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.38, for a total value of $95,974.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $745,395.12. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,854,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,710,658,000 after acquiring an additional 89,598 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.7% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,454,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $990,206,000 after acquiring an additional 198,253 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,008,634 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $930,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,516 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 87.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,233,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $695,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,108,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $240,336,000 after purchasing an additional 185,223 shares during the last quarter.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc is a global provider of analytical laboratory instruments, software, services and consumables. The company serves customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, food, environmental, energy and academic research sectors, as well as diagnostic and clinical laboratories.

Agilent’s offerings include liquid and gas chromatography systems, mass spectrometry instruments, spectroscopy and atomic instruments, laboratory automation products, genomic and cell analysis solutions, and related software.