Vest Financial LLC Acquires 1,626 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 73.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,626 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $1,244,094,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 61,215.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,753,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $822,781,000 after buying an additional 1,750,163 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $541,437,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,792,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,736 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased 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 period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Melius Research raised Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up 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 given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $515.19.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $519.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $140.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $533.78. The business's fifty day moving average price is $479.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $466.37.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Deere & Company's payout ratio 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.

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