Deere & Company $DE Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group cut its Deere stake by 10.9% in the third quarter, selling 31,076 shares. It still held 254,990 shares, valued at about $171.2 million.
• Deere reported quarterly EPS of $5.10, beating the $4.69 consensus, while revenue of $12.61 billion also exceeded expectations and rose 6.2% year over year.
• Analysts had a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $688.10; 17 rated the shares Buy and eight rated them Hold.

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 10.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 31,076 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.09% of Deere & Company worth $171,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,763,504,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,685,093,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,259,279,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the second quarter worth $957,456,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 84.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,088,628 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,959,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,694 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $672.74 on Friday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $455.90 and a one year high of $721.22. The company's 50-day moving average is $668.36 and its 200 day moving average is $612.22. The company has a market capitalization of $181.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The industrial products company reported $5.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.69 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $12.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.81 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 18.10%. The business's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $752.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, August 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $700.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $640.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $680.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $732.00 to $728.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $688.10.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known as John Deere, manufactures and distributes equipment and technology for agriculture, construction, forestry, and lawn care. Its products include tractors, combines, planting and spraying equipment, construction machinery, forestry equipment, and turf-care products, along with related parts and services. The company also provides precision agriculture technologies designed to help customers monitor and manage equipment and field operations. Through its Financial Services business, Deere offers financing and leasing options for equipment and related products.

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