California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 35,173 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 545,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,173 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.19% of Deere & Company worth $218,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter worth about $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE DE traded up $4.77 on Tuesday, hitting $404.38. The stock had a trading volume of 216,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,472,575. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $386.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $383.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $345.55 and a 52-week high of $450.00. The stock has a market cap of $112.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $494.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

About Deere & Company

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.