AIA Group Ltd Acquires 32,723 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 142,655 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 32,723 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company makes up approximately 2.3% of AIA Group Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd owned 0.05% of Deere & Company worth $57,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 3,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 1,751 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 5,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 586 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Melius downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Melius Research reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock traded up $3.99 during trading on Thursday, hitting $400.87. 1,562,911 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,501,047. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $345.55 and a 52 week high of $450.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $385.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $382.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 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 analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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

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.