Raymond James & Associates Has $235.86 Million Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 574,240 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,217 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.21% of Deere & Company worth $235,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Waycross Investment Management Co raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 4.8% in the first quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 4,436 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 17.0% in the first quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 4,038 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at $156,000. Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at $372,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 25.3% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE DE traded down $0.73 on Friday, hitting $393.33. 998,338 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,243,125. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $387.86 and a 200 day moving average of $383.56. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $345.55 and a twelve month high of $450.00. The company has a market capitalization of $109.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 17.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. 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 note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company 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.