Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Grows Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 11.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,394 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $23,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 1,180.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 725.0% in the first quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $414.11.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE stock traded down $2.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $381.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,670,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,536,021. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $369.04 and a 200-day moving average of $380.51. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $417.46. The stock has a market cap of $105.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.09 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.