Forsta AP Fonden Lowers Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 53,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $25,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,583,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,514,053,000 after purchasing an additional 198,332 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,850,687,000 after purchasing an additional 322,582 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,600,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,609,149,000 after purchasing an additional 17,269 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,715,633,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,853,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,328,344,000 after purchasing an additional 131,138 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on DE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $672.00 to $607.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.08.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.6%

DE opened at $542.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $572.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $542.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.96. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $433.00 and a 12 month high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 10.09%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.