American Century Companies Inc. Has $199.46 Million Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 436,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,566 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.16% of Deere & Company worth $199,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Chip Partners LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 3.0% during the second quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 4.1% during the third quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC now owns 564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 24.7% during the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 153 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Deere & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $715.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $612.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $637.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $629.32 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $537.84 and a 200-day moving average of $495.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $170.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.02. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $404.42 and a 1 year high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 36.53%.

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.