Optas LLC Takes Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Optas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Deere & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,920,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,006 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after purchasing an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,248,036,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Deere & Company by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,595,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $638,167,000 after purchasing an additional 160,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $628,105,000 after purchasing an additional 31,074 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $494.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $430.55.

Insider Activity

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

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of DE stock opened at $373.63 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $385.32 and a 200 day moving average of $387.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $102.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $353.15 and a twelve month high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.61 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

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.