Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 34.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $1,248,036,000. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after purchasing an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $166,937,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after purchasing an additional 263,709 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. DA Davidson cut their target price on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. HSBC downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $443.00 target price (up from $439.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $414.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $394.65 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $417.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $371.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $381.36.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

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.