Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 27,134 Shares of AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) by 80.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 27,134 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in AGCO were worth $674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in AGCO by 28.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AGCO by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 17,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in AGCO by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in AGCO by 0.8% in the second quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in AGCO by 0.4% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 38,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,793,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. 78.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AGCO shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AGCO from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on AGCO from $112.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on AGCO from $131.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AGCO in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AGCO from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGCO currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.10.

AGCO Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGCO opened at $93.20 on Monday. AGCO Co. has a 1 year low of $84.35 and a 1 year high of $130.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $96.60 and its 200 day moving average is $95.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. AGCO had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 1.35%. The firm’s revenue was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AGCO Co. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current year.

AGCO Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. AGCO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.33%.

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.