Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.
A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Bank of America lowered Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $133.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. UBS Group downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday, November 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, December 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $128.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.59.
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Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.7 %
A stock traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $139.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,521,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,393. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $117.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.32. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $159.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $40.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.10.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 20th. The medical research company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.15% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 2,751 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $357,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 306,206 shares in the company, valued at $39,806,780. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 2,751 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $357,630.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 306,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,806,780. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.69, for a total value of $206,535.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,598,252.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,049 shares of company stock valued at $12,328,032. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13,422.2% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 37,574,064 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,518,281,000 after buying an additional 37,296,195 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $393,291,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 939.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,296,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $256,796,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,649 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 79.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,145,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $620,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,413 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $184,437,000. 85.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Agilent Technologies (Get Free Report)
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.
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Original: MarketBeat News Feed: Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy