River Global Investors LLP Buys Shares of 8,750 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

River Global Investors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,500,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Melius downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE traded up $5.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $400.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,626,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,337,641. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $345.55 and a 12 month high of $450.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $391.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $383.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.12%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.