Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 84.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,787 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,397 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $307,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $213,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 33,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 11.8% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 80,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,004,000 after buying an additional 8,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.3% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 63,555 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,107,000 after buying an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $7,844,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $137.04 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $151.58. The stock has a market cap of $40.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies 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.