North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $3.90 Million in Deere & Company $DE

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,898,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DE. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,725.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,003,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $932,870,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,972 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,199.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,864,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $868,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,239 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 278.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 487,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $223,005,000 after acquiring an additional 358,687 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 21.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $829,930,000 after acquiring an additional 323,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,850,687,000 after acquiring an additional 322,582 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.1%

Deere & Company stock opened at $562.12 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $433.00 and a 12 month high of $674.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $580.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $537.44. The firm has a market cap of $151.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The business had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $675.00 to $580.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $675.00 to $625.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.45.

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.