AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $45

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $45 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 328.0 million; Market cap: $14.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agilent.com) makes specialized testing equipment, such as mass spectrometers, for medical research labs. In its fiscal 2016 second quarter, which ended April 30, 2016, the company earned $145 million. That’s up 12.4% from $129 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 15.8%, to $0.44 from $0.38, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 5.8%, to $1.0 billion from $963 million. These gains reflect strong demand for Agilent’s products from food companies and pharmaceutical firms. The company is also benefiting from last year’s $235 million purchase of Seahorse Bioscience. This firm makes equipment that researchers use to measure the response of cells to new drugs. Agilent now expects to earn $1.88 to $1.92 a share for all of fiscal 2016, up from its earlier prediction of $1.81 to $1.87 a share. The stock trades at 23.7 times the midpoint of the new range. That’s a reasonable multiple in light of the company’s high research spending— 7.9% of revenue in the latest quarter. Agilent is a buy.

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