USS Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,453 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $21,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,398,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Deere & Company by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 5,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of DE stock opened at $525.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $533.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $470.64 and its 200 day moving average is $456.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DE. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $542.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Argus set a $510.00 target price on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Baird R W cut Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $513.00.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.