Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,790,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 20.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,906,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 27.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 857.9% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after acquiring an additional 6,855 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter worth $2,783,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $394.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $372.50 and a 200-day moving average of $381.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $417.46.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $443.00 price objective (up previously from $439.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.88.

Deere & Company Profile

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.