UPDATE: Morgan Stanley Raises PT on Agilent on Multi-Year Margin Improvement Story

In a report published Friday, Morgan Stanley analyst Daniel Brennan reiterated an Overweight rating on

, and raised the price target from $49.00 to $60.00. In the report, Morgan Stanley noted, “We like Agilent's multi-year margin improvement story, organic growth profile and superior ROIC profile – all of which have been overshadowed by the macro weakness. The decision to break the company into two pieces is an important value-creating event, allowing the appropriate investor bases to analyze/evaluate each piece (leading to multiple expansion), enabling separate mgmt teams to form distinct strategies and allocate capital appropriately, and affording upside optionality given sector consolidation.” Agilent Technologies closed on Thursday at $50.98.