Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Raises Position in Deere & Company $DE

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,471 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $8,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 7.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 11.1% in the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 3.6% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,989,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 691.4% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 9,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,046,000 after purchasing an additional 8,670 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DE shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Deere & Company from $541.00 to $736.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Sixteen investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $644.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $600.49 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $554.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $500.43. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $404.42 and a 52 week high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $162.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.