William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Invests $1.09 Million in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,090,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after acquiring an additional 263,709 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,859,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,585,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,200 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,254,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $842,259,000 after purchasing an additional 60,255 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Deere & Company by 15.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $802,037,000 after buying an additional 279,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,481,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $592,391,000 after buying an additional 150,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James began coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $410.50.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE opened at $418.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $115.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $379.51 and its 200-day moving average is $384.15. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $419.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

About Deere & Company

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.