AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Has $60.14 Million Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 42.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,140 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 95,394 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $60,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 19.9% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,058,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,566,884,000 after acquiring an additional 157,224 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,364,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,395 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,305,571 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,247,216,000 after acquiring an additional 97,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,244,094,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Melius upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $515.50.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $499.95. 1,064,545 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,343,379. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month 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. The firm has a market cap of $135.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $512.85 and a 200 day moving average of $481.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 24.39%. 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 company earned $8.53 earnings per share. The business'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 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 31.35%.

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.