MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,407 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $27,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. BNP Paribas raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 72,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,097,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 41.1% in the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 26.2% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,652,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carlson Capital Management purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.9 %

DE traded up $3.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $464.99. 67,749 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,448,652. The firm has a market cap of $127.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $469.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $409.62 and a 200 day moving average of $386.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.65. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The company’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.26 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 20.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.00.

Deere & 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.