First Financial Bank Trust Division Has $2.64 Million Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DE. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 254.4% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,766,000 after purchasing an additional 9,769 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Deere & Company by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 21,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 37,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,774,000 after purchasing an additional 4,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its position in Deere & Company by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 21,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,221,000 after purchasing an additional 6,408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE DE opened at $471.35 on Friday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $386.42 and a fifty-two week high of $533.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $497.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $490.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $127.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.13. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 33.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $500.00 to $495.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI set a $491.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Melius raised Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Melius Research raised Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.87.

About Deere & Company

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.