Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. Takes $10.24 Million Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 24,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,242,000. Deere & Company accounts for 3.0% of Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $138,000. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 167.9% in the first quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 19.3% during the first quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.2% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProVise Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $288,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $389.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $106.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93. 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 has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $420.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $403.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $385.61.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.20 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 20.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DE shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $420.69.

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.