Legal & General Group Plc Buys 115,975 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,651,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 115,975 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $755,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,372,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,376,279,000 after buying an additional 309,081 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,297,913,000 after buying an additional 64,262 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,810,807,000 after acquiring an additional 111,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $1,578,243,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,722,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,244,670,000 after acquiring an additional 141,790 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research raised Deere & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $715.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $644.70.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE DE opened at $600.49 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $404.42 and a 1-year high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $554.55 and a 200-day moving average of $500.43. The firm has a market cap of $162.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 36.53%.

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.