Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stake in AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 134,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,624 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in AGCO were worth $12,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in AGCO by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,360,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $220,641,000 after buying an additional 961,081 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AGCO in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,321,000. Edge Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in AGCO in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,269,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AGCO by 83.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after purchasing an additional 286,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in AGCO by 386.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 249,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,389,000 after purchasing an additional 198,014 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.80% of the company’s stock.

AGCO Price Performance

AGCO stock opened at $80.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.16. AGCO Co. has a 1 year low of $73.79 and a 1 year high of $121.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $92.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.91.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). AGCO had a positive return on equity of 13.40% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. Sell-side analysts predict that AGCO Co. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AGCO shares. Morgan Stanley cut AGCO from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $94.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded shares of AGCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AGCO from $102.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird downgraded AGCO from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Baird R W cut AGCO from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGCO presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

AGCO Profile

AGCO Corporation manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts worldwide. It offers horsepower tractors for row crop production, soil cultivation, planting, land leveling, seeding, and commercial hay operations; utility tractors for small- and medium-sized farms, as well as for dairy, livestock, orchards, and vineyards; and compact tractors for small farms, specialty agricultural industries, landscaping, equestrian, and residential uses.