Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Acquired by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 34.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,518 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $10,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,179,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% during the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $480.59 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $440.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $407.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $130.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $485.84.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on DE shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $444.50.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.