Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 66,680 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 215.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 66,680 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $49,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,372,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,376,279,000 after acquiring an additional 309,081 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,297,913,000 after purchasing an additional 64,262 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,876,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,227,258,000 after purchasing an additional 286,253 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,810,807,000 after purchasing an additional 111,627 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,578,243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $609.00 to $612.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $460.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $523.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John C. May II sold 11,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.08, for a total value of $5,553,888.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 112,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,235,496.24. This trade represents a 8.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $485.35 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $403.01 and a 12 month high of $533.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $469.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $131.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). Deere & Company had a return on equity of 20.54% and a net margin of 11.00%.The business had revenue of $12.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 35.01%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.