Deere & Company $DE Shares Acquired by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,760 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $21,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 84.9% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,402,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,737,000 after buying an additional 30,553 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 66.1% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 27,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,606,000 after buying an additional 10,974 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 263.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,942,000 after buying an additional 12,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 14.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,682,000 after buying an additional 2,702 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus increased their price target on Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.45.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $578.26 on Monday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $433.00 and a one year high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. The stock has a market cap of $156.19 billion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $590.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $530.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.53%.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.