California State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System cut its Deere & Company stake by 2.5%, selling 9,960 shares and retaining 387,359 shares worth approximately $218.2 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 68.58% of Deere.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $642.98, despite mixed target changes. Deere recently reported quarterly EPS of $6.55, surpassing estimates, while revenue rose 5.4% year over year to $13.37 billion.
• Deere shares were trading at $640.78, up 2.5%, near the consensus price target. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.62, equivalent to an annualized $6.48 payout and a 1.0% yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 387,359 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,960 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of Deere & Company worth $218,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 7.8% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,153,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 6.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $680.00 target price (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $642.98.

Deere & Company Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $640.78 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $433.00 and a 52-week high of $674.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $587.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $579.01. The firm has a market cap of $172.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 36.71%.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company's principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.

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