Deere & Company $DE Holdings Lowered by Bessemer Group Inc.

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. cut its Deere & Company stake by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 63,901 shares and ending with 180,146 shares valued at about $83.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: several analysts raised price targets on DE, and the stock currently carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $655.45.
• Deere reported strong quarterly results, posting $2.42 EPS on $9.61 billion in revenue, both ahead of expectations, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 26.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,146 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 63,901 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Deere & Company worth $83,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,440 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,402,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,737,000 after purchasing an additional 30,553 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 27,568 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,606,000 after purchasing an additional 10,974 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 263.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,942,000 after purchasing an additional 12,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,682,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DE. Bank of America raised their price target on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Argus raised their price target on Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. 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. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $715.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $655.45.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $562.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market cap of $151.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.96. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $580.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $537.02. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $433.00 and a 52 week high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.