Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Reduces Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,238 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,623 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $18,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 valued at $2,792,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake 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 valued at $2,566,884,000 after acquiring an additional 157,224 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $2,364,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,395 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $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 valued at about $1,244,094,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.6%

DE traded up $2.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $517.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 858,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,107,224. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.08. 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 has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $533.78. The stock's 50-day moving average is $513.03 and its 200-day moving average is $484.29.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior 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 expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 31.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Oppenheimer set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Melius raised shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $515.50.

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.