Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Position Lessened by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lowered its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,085 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $94,051,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $191,193,000 after acquiring an additional 493,947 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,172,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,449,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,235,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $434,625,000 after purchasing an additional 258,358 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $120.35 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $135.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.17 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. On average, analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. 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; and vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.