Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Lowers Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 58.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,092 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Essex Savings Bank increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Chip Partners LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $456.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $432.92.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $374.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $399.76 and a 200-day moving average of $386.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $345.55 and a 12 month high of $450.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.65 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Deere & 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.