St. Clair Advisors LLC Invests $212,000 in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

St. Clair Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 500 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,244,094,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $541,437,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,792,082,000 after buying an additional 1,095,736 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,364,843,000 after buying an additional 1,039,395 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,232,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $515.56. The company had a trading volume of 948,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,413,853. The stock has a market cap of $139.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $533.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $471.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $456.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $513.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $516.75.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.