Deere & Company $DE Shares Purchased by Ascentis Independent Advisors

Ascentis Independent Advisors boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 124.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the period. Ascentis Independent Advisors’ holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DE. 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. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,485,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,898,717,000 after purchasing an additional 97,049 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Deere & Company by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,592,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,465,906,000 after buying an additional 3,358,264 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,692,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,581,574,000 after buying an additional 158,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,600,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,609,149,000 after buying an additional 17,269 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE DE opened at $635.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $433.00 and a 12 month high of $674.19. The company has a market capitalization of $171.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $578.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $563.22.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 10.09%.The company had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $775.00 to $685.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.23.

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.