Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. Takes Position in Deere & Company $DE

Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,297,913,000 after buying an additional 64,262 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,850,687,000 after buying an additional 322,582 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,722,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,244,670,000 after buying an additional 141,790 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 21.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $829,930,000 after acquiring an additional 323,512 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Deere & Company by 7.6% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,651,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $755,385,000 after acquiring an additional 115,975 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DE shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $765.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $467.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $644.70.

Deere & Company Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of DE opened at $555.26 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $404.42 and a 1-year high of $674.19. The company has a market capitalization of $149.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $580.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $510.41.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.