Key Financial Inc Raises Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Key Financial Inc grew its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1,875.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $95,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 104,373.8% during the 4th 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 position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $1,326,177,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 46,241.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 840,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,142,000 after purchasing an additional 838,813 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,576,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,962,085,000 after purchasing an additional 554,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 561.5% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $494.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $397.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $110.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $345.55 and a 1-year high of $450.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $385.17 and its 200 day moving average is $382.66.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 17.12%.

Deere & 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.