Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $5.44-5.55 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64. The company issued revenue guidance of $6.71-6.81 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $6.99 billion. Agilent Technologies also updated its FY 2024 guidance to $5.44-$5.55 EPS.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $113.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.66. Agilent Technologies has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $160.26.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 20th. The medical research company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 16.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 2nd will be given a $0.236 dividend. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 29th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 24.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on A. Credit Suisse Group dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. UBS Group downgraded Agilent Technologies from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $143.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total value of $415,730.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 24,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,876,732.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter valued at $61,000. 85.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

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.