Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 27.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after acquiring an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,602,000 after acquiring an additional 852,885 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 46,892.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $322,218,000 after purchasing an additional 770,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% during the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $442.83.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $484.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $131.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $484.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $438.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $406.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.