Empowered Funds LLC Increases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,915 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $7,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Deere & Company by 32.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,168,737,000 after buying an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after buying an additional 988,380 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 8.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,994,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,431,000 after acquiring an additional 158,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 5.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,731,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $722,733,000 after acquiring an additional 85,401 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.0 %

DE stock opened at $470.22 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $485.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $445.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $413.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $446.17.

Deere & 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.