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Santa Clara, California-based Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) is a global life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical analysis company. With a market cap of $31.4 billion, it provides instruments, software, services, and consumables used in laboratories across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, environmental testing, food safety, academic research, and clinical diagnostics.
Shares of Agilent have surged marginally over the past 52 weeks and dipped 16.3% on a YTD basis, compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 25.1% gains over the past year and 8.6% rise this year.
Narrowing the focus, the stock has also lagged behind the sector-focused State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLV) 9.2% gains over the past 52 weeks and 5% dip in 2026.
On May 20, shares of Agilent rose 2.9% after the company announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.255 per share on its common stock, reinforcing investor confidence in its stable cash flow generation and shareholder return strategy. The dividend will be payable on July 22, 2026, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 30, 2026.
For the full fiscal 2026, ending in October, analysts expect Agilent to deliver an EPS of $5.95, up 6.4% year over year. Further, the company has a mixed earnings surprise history. It has surpassed or met the Street’s bottom-line projections in three of the past four quarters, while missing on another occasion.
Among the 16 analysts covering the Agilent stock, the consensus rating is a “Strong Buy.” That’s based on 11 “Strong Buy” ratings, one “Moderate Buy,” and four “Holds.”
This consensus is bullish than three months ago, when the stock had an overall “Moderate Buy” rating.
On April 14, Barclays analyst Luke Sergott maintained an “Overweight” rating on Agilent, and lowered the price target to $140 from $150.
Agilent’s mean price target of $162.64 represents a 42.9% premium to current price levels. Moreover, the Street-high target of $185 suggests a notable 62.6% upside potential.
