Choreo LLC Grows Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $8,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% during the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on DE shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $444.50.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.2 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $472.72 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $485.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

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.