Deere & Company $DE Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 303,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,217 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Deere & Company worth $154,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ICONIQ Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 7.8% in the second quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 11.8% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $324,000. Finally, Curi Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 41.2% in the second quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their price target on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $543.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $460.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $523.70.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 11,106 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.08, for a total value of $5,553,888.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 112,453 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,496.24. The trade was a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock opened at $485.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $469.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $487.70. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $403.01 and a 12-month high of $533.78. The firm has a market cap of $131.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($0.03). Deere & Company had a return on equity of 20.54% and a net margin of 11.00%.The business had revenue of $12.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 35.01%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.