National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives Acquires Shares of 20,000 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,347,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 153.7% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $934,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Chapin Davis Inc. raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 1,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the first quarter worth $2,783,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 10.2% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.8 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $407.93 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $420.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $397.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $385.35.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DE. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

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.