AIA Group Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

AIA Group Ltd lowered its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 57.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 107,878 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company comprises approximately 0.9% of AIA Group Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $38,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 116.1% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.93.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.8%

DE stock opened at $510.57 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $512.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $489.38. The company has a market capitalization of $138.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.06. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $343.38 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. The firm had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 12.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

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.