JLB & Associates Inc. Has $3.41 Million Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

JLB & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,730 shares during the period. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 55.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $789,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 15,927 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of A opened at $119.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $153.84.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.15.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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.