W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Raises Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 29.6% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 4,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.1% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 199,318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DE shares. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $494.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of DE stock traded up $5.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $400.96. 1,626,960 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,337,641. The stock has a market cap of $111.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $345.55 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $391.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $383.87.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.