Align Financial LLC Invests $40.53 Million in Deere & Company $DE

Align Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 87,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,533,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $625.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $639.58.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.7%

Deere & Company stock opened at $589.13 on Thursday. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $573.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $551.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.38, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $433.00 and a 52-week high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. Deere & Company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 36.71%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.