California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 79,193 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 910,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,193 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $416,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 4.4% in the third quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Silvant Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% in the third quarter. Silvant Capital Management LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,034,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Forefront Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC now owns 564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on DE. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $475.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $715.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $644.70.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.4%

Deere & Company stock opened at $577.42 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $564.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $503.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $404.42 and a 12 month high of $674.19. The stock has a market cap of $155.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.