Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 104,373.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,219,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,380,557,000 after buying an additional 3,216,801 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,326,177,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Deere & Company by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,576,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,962,085,000 after buying an additional 554,133 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Deere & Company by 561.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 531,339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,379,000 after purchasing an additional 451,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $139,112,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on DE. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $431.69.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of DE stock traded up $1.60 on Thursday, reaching $410.74. 1,423,110 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,531,782. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $345.55 and a 12-month high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $114.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $379.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $381.32.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.12%.

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.