Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $7.95 Million Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $7,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,920,548,000 after acquiring an additional 65,006 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after purchasing an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,248,036,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,595,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $638,167,000 after buying an additional 160,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $628,105,000 after buying an additional 31,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $456.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Raymond James began coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $427.66.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.0 %

DE stock traded down $3.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $359.30. 114,961 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,499,164. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $382.63 and its 200-day moving average is $386.61. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $353.15 and a 12 month high of $450.00. The company has a market cap of $99.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.86 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Deere & Company 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.