Short Interest in AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) Rises By 11.0%

AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a growth of 11.0% from the September 15th total of 3,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 807,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 5.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael C. Arnold acquired 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $87.69 per share, with a total value of $157,842.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,794,575.85. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other AGCO news, Director Michael C. Arnold acquired 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $87.69 per share, with a total value of $157,842.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,794,575.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lange Bob De bought 1,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $87.91 per share, with a total value of $124,832.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $615,985.37. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 16.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGCO. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in AGCO by 103.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,571,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $153,814,000 after purchasing an additional 799,429 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AGCO by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,565,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $930,660,000 after acquiring an additional 784,617 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AGCO by 53.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,747,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,090,000 after acquiring an additional 605,509 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of AGCO by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,791,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $175,323,000 after acquiring an additional 391,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in AGCO by 17.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,259,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $221,187,000 after purchasing an additional 335,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.80% of the company’s stock.

AGCO Price Performance

AGCO opened at $99.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. AGCO has a 1 year low of $84.35 and a 1 year high of $130.26. The stock has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.69, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.25.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.90 by ($0.37). AGCO had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AGCO will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AGCO. Citigroup upped their target price on AGCO from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of AGCO from $127.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of AGCO from $133.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of AGCO from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on AGCO from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.80.

About AGCO

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.