Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $180.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.65.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $172.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.72. The company has a market cap of $48.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.21. 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 has a 1 year low of $108.35 and a 1 year high of $177.47.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The medical research company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Agilent Technologies will post 6.20 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mikael Dolsten sold 634 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,395.12. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,854,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,710,658,000 after buying an additional 89,598 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,454,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $990,206,000 after buying an additional 198,253 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 17.1% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,008,634 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $930,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,516 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 87.4% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 2,440,360 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at $260,101,000.

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.