Capital Management Associates Inc Acquires 2,143 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Capital Management Associates increased its stake in Deere & Company by 84.8% in Q4, buying an additional 2,143 shares to hold 4,670 shares worth $2.174 million.
• Multiple analysts raised price targets (Wells Fargo to $750, RBC to $736), and the stock carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average target of $650.95.
• Deere recently beat quarterly expectations (EPS $2.42 vs. $1.90; revenue $9.61B vs. $7.50B) and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.62 (annualized $6.48, ~1.1% yield).

Capital Management Associates Inc grew its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 84.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,670 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,143 shares during the period. Capital Management Associates Inc's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 30.0% in the second quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC now owns 941 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 3.0% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 52,115 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the second quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Deere & Company from $541.00 to $736.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $475.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $650.95.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $575.49 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $584.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $513.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $404.42 and a 12-month high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 36.53%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company 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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