Carret Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 53,338.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,602,000 after acquiring an additional 852,885 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 46,892.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,218,000 after purchasing an additional 770,451 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $166,937,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 15.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,037,000 after purchasing an additional 279,627 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on DE shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $407.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $397.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $385.35. The stock has a market cap of $112.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $420.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.03 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

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.