Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes $149.06 Million Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 351,798 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $149,057,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.13% of Deere & Company as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,792,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 157,224 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $2,364,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,395 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $2,247,216,000 after purchasing an additional 97,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,244,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Deere & Company from $513.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $516.75.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.0%

DE stock traded down $4.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $503.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 994,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,404,204. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $533.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $474.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

About Deere & Company

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.