Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Reduces Position in Deere & Company $DE

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 216,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 70,784 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Deere & Company worth $100,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $1,715,633,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,592,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,465,906,000 after acquiring an additional 3,358,264 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,725.8% during the 4th 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 boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,199.8% during the 4th 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. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 278.0% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $625.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $672.00 to $607.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $639.58.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.5%

DE opened at $577.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.18. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $433.00 and a fifty-two week high of $674.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $573.27 and its 200 day moving average is $548.89. The stock has a market cap of $155.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio 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.