Banque Transatlantique SA Reduces Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Banque Transatlantique SA reduced its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,417 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company accounts for about 0.8% of Banque Transatlantique SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Banque Transatlantique SA’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $32,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 10,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,553 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 78.6% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Deere & Company by 7.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,651,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $755,385,000 after purchasing an additional 115,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eldred Rock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $13,166,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $590.37 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $433.00 and a 1 year high of $674.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $574.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $552.39. The company has a market cap of $159.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.45, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 10.09%.The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DE. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $625.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Argus upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $639.58.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.