Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 1,720 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in Deere by 0.7%, selling 1,720 shares and now holding 228,398 shares (about 0.08% of the company) valued at roughly $106.34 million.
• Deere outperformed quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.42 (vs. $1.90 expected) and revenue of $9.61 billion (vs. $7.50 billion), reporting revenue growth of 17.5% and announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.62 ($6.48 annualized, ~1.1% yield).
• Institutional investors own 68.58% of the stock with several large funds increasing positions, and analysts hold a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $655.45 amid multiple price-target upgrades (e.g., Truist to $793).

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 228,398 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,720 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.08% of Deere & Company worth $106,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Deere & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,583,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,514,053,000 after acquiring an additional 198,332 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,850,687,000 after purchasing an additional 322,582 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,722,018 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,244,670,000 after purchasing an additional 141,790 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,199.8% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,864,701 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $868,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 21.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,007 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $829,930,000 after purchasing an additional 323,512 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Deere & Company from $675.00 to $580.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Deere & Company from $612.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $655.45.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE opened at $591.19 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 stock has a market capitalization of $159.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $590.37 and a 200 day moving average of $528.84. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $433.00 and a fifty-two week high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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

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