Mizuho Securities USA LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Deere & Company by 15.9%, selling 3,835 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with a total of 20,281 shares valued at approximately $9.5 million.
• Notably, other institutional investors, such as GAMMA Investing LLC and Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC, significantly increased their positions in Deere, indicating strong interest in the company; hedge funds now own 68.58% of the stock.
• Analysts remain mixed on Deere & Company, with one rating it a "sell," eleven a "hold," and eight a "buy," resulting in an average price target of $523.93 despite a quarterly EPS of $6.64 that beat estimates.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,281 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,835 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $9,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 58.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,625 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,395,000 after purchasing an additional 5,053 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 10.7% during the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 8,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,863,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter valued at $13,588,000. Stenger Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $3,144,000. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter valued at $271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $546.00 to $619.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Melius Research upgraded Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $523.93.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock traded down $2.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $507.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,097,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,404. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $343.90 and a 12-month high of $533.78. The company's fifty day moving average is $512.46 and its 200-day moving average is $489.58. The company has a market capitalization of $137.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.06.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.35%.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.