National Pension Service Raises Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

National Pension Service grew its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 444,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,220 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $177,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DE. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on DE. Truist Financial started coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $494.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, hitting $405.32. 640,327 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,451,911. The firm has a market cap of $112.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $393.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.23. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $345.55 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.12%.

Deere & 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.