Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 on April 23rd

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.248 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st.

Agilent Technologies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% annually over the last three years. Agilent Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 16.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Agilent Technologies to earn $6.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.99 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.3%.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $116.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $134.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.64. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $116.36 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. Research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Agilent Technologies stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on A. Bank of America dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.83.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

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.