Oppenheimer Increases Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Price Target to $90.00

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) had its price objective upped by Oppenheimer from $67.00 to $90.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A has been the subject of several other reports. TheStreet raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an outperform rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $138.29.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A opened at $145.51 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.42. Agilent Technologies has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $151.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $42.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total transaction of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,976 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,235.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total value of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi Fields sold 1,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.34, for a total value of $239,315.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,935,235.84. 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 Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Monumental Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 8,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Kepos Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 93 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.