United Asset Strategies Inc. Buys New Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

United Asset Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,920,548,000 after buying an additional 65,006 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,650,767,000 after purchasing an additional 269,571 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $1,380,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,801 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,326,177,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,061,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,155,430,000 after purchasing an additional 73,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.0 %

DE stock opened at $397.01 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $385.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $382.66. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $110.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.55 and a one year high of $450.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.39 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. Melius cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $494.00 target price for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

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.