Acadian Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 324.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $1,248,036,000. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $1,541,967,000 after buying an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the first quarter worth approximately $191,628,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,031,500,000 after buying an additional 263,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 28,306.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 249,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $934,000 after buying an additional 249,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $387.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $371.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $381.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $417.46.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm’s revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.20 EPS. Analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.07 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $414.11.

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.