Agilent share price up 53%

Article Excerpt

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $69 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 321.8 million; Market cap: $22.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.0; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. agilent.com) makes specialized testing equipment, like mass spectrometers, for medical research laboratories and industrial clients. Thanks to recent acquisitions and the launch of new products, the company earned $218 million for the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter, ended October 31, 2017. That’s up 13.0% from $193 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share increased 13.6%, to $0.67 from $0.59. Revenue rose 7.0%, to $1.19 billion from $1.11 billion. Factoring out new businesses and exchange rates, revenue improved 5.8%. Agilent now expects its revenue for fiscal 2018 to rise roughly 6%, excluding acquisitions. It should also earn between $2.50 and $2.56 a share for the year. The stock is up 53% in the past year, and now trades at 27.3 times the midpoint of that range. That seems…