Nordea Investment Management AB Has $219.64 Million Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its Deere stake by 11.8% in Q4, selling 62,819 shares and leaving it with 468,988 shares valued at about $219.64 million (0.17% of the company).
• Insider selling: CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares (~$20.8M) and Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares (~$6.12M), with corporate insiders now owning just 0.29% of Deere.
• Operational strength and analyst optimism: Deere beat Q results with $2.42 EPS and $9.61B revenue (up 17.5% YoY), and analysts have raised targets, giving a consensus price target of $644.70 and an overall "Moderate Buy" rating.

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 468,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 62,819 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.17% of Deere & Company worth $219,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,297,913,000 after purchasing an additional 64,262 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,850,687,000 after buying an additional 322,582 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,578,243,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,722,018 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,244,670,000 after acquiring an additional 141,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,007 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $829,930,000 after acquiring an additional 323,512 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,603,920. This represents a 36.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Evercore reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut their target price on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $520.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $644.70.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $558.81 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $150.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $404.42 and a fifty-two week high of $674.19. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $572.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $506.31.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is 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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