Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 108 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DE. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $442.83.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $463.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $403.19. The company has a market cap of $126.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.34 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.