Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires 438 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $9,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on DE. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $444.50.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $465.63 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $485.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $445.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

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

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.31%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.