Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on A. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.62.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:A traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $136.10. The company had a trading volume of 370,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,729,282. Agilent Technologies has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $39.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.51.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,903,498,000 after buying an additional 158,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,948,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,799,000 after acquiring an additional 136,184 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.