Madison Asset Management LLC Has $45.69 Million Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management LLC cut its Deere & Company stake by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,523 shares and ending with 98,137 shares valued at about $45.69 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their Deere positions, and the stock remains heavily owned by institutions at 68.58%.
• Analysts remain constructive on Deere overall, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $655.45 average price target, while Deere recently beat earnings expectations with quarterly EPS of $2.42 and revenue of $9.61 billion.

Madison Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,137 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,523 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $45,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 7.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at about $2,153,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 6.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 6.7% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $765.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Deere & Company from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $655.45.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $589.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $583.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $535.34. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The company's revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 18.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

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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