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

JLB & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,112 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,730 shares during the period. JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,647 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $789,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.5% during 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 in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $140.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.4%

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $115.62. 1,560,337 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,904,036. 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 $32.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.86.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

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.