Towneley Capital Management Inc DE Makes New Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Towneley Capital Management Inc DE acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 527 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,792,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,058,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,566,884,000 after purchasing an additional 157,224 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,364,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,395 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,305,571 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,247,216,000 after purchasing an additional 97,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,244,094,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DE. Baird R W downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Argus set a $510.00 price target on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $460.00 price objective (up previously from $425.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $515.19.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $519.62 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $479.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.95. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $533.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.35%.

Deere & Company 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.

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