Deere & Company $DE Stake Decreased by Parnassus Investments LLC

Parnassus Investments LLC decreased its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,642,017 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 451,317 shares during the period. Deere & Company comprises about 3.2% of Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.97% of Deere & Company worth $1,230,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 10,312 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,553 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 78.6% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 14.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,682,000 after acquiring an additional 2,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the third quarter worth about $434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $569.09 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $573.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $548.69. The company has a market cap of $153.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $433.00 and a 52-week high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $11.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company's payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued 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. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $639.58.

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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