Synovus Financial Corp Trims Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Synovus Financial Corp cut its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,952,832,000 after purchasing an additional 809,149 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after buying an additional 493,947 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $49,449,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $124,073,000 after buying an additional 313,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 63.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,075,000 after acquiring an additional 227,431 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 2.5 %

A opened at $133.01 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

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.