First Eagle Investment Management LLC Has $243.13 Million Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• First Eagle Investment Management boosted its Deere & Company stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, ending with 522,213 shares valued at about $243.1 million.
• Deere reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $2.42 EPS versus the $1.90 consensus and revenue of $9.61 billion, up 17.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $655.45, and Deere also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share.

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 522,213 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 10,373 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Deere & Company worth $243,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KLCM Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,049,000. Trek Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 10,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,792,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 48,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $22,592,000 after purchasing an additional 4,394 shares during the period. Finally, Family Legacy Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 7,894 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Deere & Company from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $655.45.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $588.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $433.00 and a twelve month high of $674.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $584.67 and a 200-day moving average of $534.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.01 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 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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