Deere & Company $DE Shares Acquired by Capital International Sarl

Capital International Sarl lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 229.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,410 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $35,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,583,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,514,053,000 after purchasing an additional 198,332 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,850,687,000 after purchasing an additional 322,582 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,600,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,609,149,000 after purchasing an additional 17,269 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,715,633,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,853,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,344,000 after purchasing an additional 131,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $583.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $433.00 and a 52 week high of $674.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $572.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $545.60.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.64 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $680.00 target price (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $639.58.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.