Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $4.93 Million Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,336 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,933,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 111,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $44,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2,780.0% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 144 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 105,238 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,092,000 after acquiring an additional 43,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,112 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE stock traded up $0.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $412.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,463,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,593. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $384.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.08. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.55 and a one year high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company's payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DE. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial began coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $494.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $430.00 target price on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $431.28.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.