AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) Stock Price Target Raised at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its AGCO price target from $99 to $113 but maintained an “underweight” rating; the new target implies just 0.56% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $123.67. Five analysts rate the stock Buy, seven Hold, and two Sell.
• AGCO beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.05 versus $0.87 forecast, but revenue missed estimates at $2.26 billion and fell 8.6% year over year.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $99.00 to $113.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price suggests a potential upside of 0.56% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AGCO. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AGCO from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research raised shares of AGCO from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AGCO from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AGCO in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on AGCO from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.67.

AGCO Stock Up 1.1%

AGCO stock traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $112.37. The stock had a trading volume of 126,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 845,837. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.12. AGCO has a 52-week low of $98.22 and a 52-week high of $143.78.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.18. AGCO had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 2.76%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AGCO will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Eric P. Hansotia sold 2,604 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.75, for a total value of $337,869.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 326,939 shares in the company, valued at $42,420,335.25. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kelvin Bennett sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.89, for a total transaction of $132,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,866,705.83. The trade was a 6.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,204 shares of company stock worth $671,239. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AGCO

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGCO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AGCO in the 2nd quarter worth $701,908,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in AGCO in the 2nd quarter worth $64,273,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in AGCO by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 543,955 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,028,000 after purchasing an additional 88,571 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in AGCO by 15.1% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 492,234 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,035,000 after purchasing an additional 64,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in AGCO by 51.6% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 272,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,551,000 after purchasing an additional 92,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.80% of the company's stock.

AGCO Company Profile

AGCO Corporation NYSE: AGCO is a global manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, technologies and related services. The company serves farmers, agricultural contractors and equipment dealers with products designed for planting, harvesting, crop protection, hay and forage production, and grain handling.

AGCO's product portfolio includes tractors, combines, planters, seeding equipment, sprayers, hay and forage machinery, grain storage and handling systems, replacement parts, and precision agriculture solutions.

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