Comerica Bank Acquires 667 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $26,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,180.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on DE. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upped their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $426.71.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded down $13.53 during trading on Thursday, reaching $358.45. 1,578,130 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,508,181. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $345.93 and a 52-week high of $441.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $371.71 and a 200-day moving average of $383.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.86 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.65 EPS. Analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.