ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Invests $13.59 Million in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has acquired a new position in Deere & Company, purchasing 28,948 shares valued at approximately $13.6 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Deere & Company's stock, with Truist Financial increasing it from $546 to $619 and a consensus target price now standing at $515.50.
• Deere & Company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly surpassing analysts' estimates of $5.72, despite a 17.9% decline in year-over-year revenue.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 28,948 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $13,588,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 58.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,625 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,395,000 after acquiring an additional 5,053 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 10.7% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 8,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. Stenger Family Office LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,144,000. Stratos Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at about $271,000. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 28.2% in the first quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE traded up $3.93 on Friday, hitting $510.57. 883,727 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,119,567. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $512.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $489.28. The firm has a market cap of $138.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.06. Deere & Company has a one year low of $343.38 and a one year high of $533.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business 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 company posted $8.53 EPS. The company's revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DE. Barclays increased their target price on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $555.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Melius Research raised Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $523.93.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.