Tredje AP fonden Buys 81,600 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Tredje AP fonden boosted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 50.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 244,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,600 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company makes up approximately 0.9% of Tredje AP fonden’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Tredje AP fonden owned about 0.09% of Deere & Company worth $91,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.4% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.2% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.7% in the first quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 4,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, First Foundation Advisors grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.3% in the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $409.88.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $397.91 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $417.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $109.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $373.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $382.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company’s revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

About Deere & Company

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.