Deere & Company $DE Shares Acquired by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 218,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 12,674 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $101,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DE. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $775.00 to $685.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $639.58.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $569.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $153.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $573.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $548.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.18. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $433.00 and a 1 year high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.64 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 36.71%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.