Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Purchases 2,810 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 13.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,115 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,810 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in A. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.92.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $118.80 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $153.84. The company has a market capitalization of $33.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. This represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

About Agilent Technologies

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.