German American Bancorp Inc. Makes New $1.03 Million Investment in Deere & Company $DE

German American Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,026,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 10,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,553 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 78.6% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 388,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $180,919,000 after acquiring an additional 45,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Deere & Company by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on DE. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $759.00 to $812.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 5th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Seaport Research Partners set a $570.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $641.98.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $608.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $603.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $588.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $433.00 and a 12 month high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.