Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 26.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,590 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $44,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. 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 lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,297,913,000 after purchasing an additional 64,262 shares during the period. 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,578,243,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 10.1% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,580,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,312,020,000 after buying an additional 236,406 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $488.00 to $467.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $525.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $440.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.20.

Deere & Company Trading Up 4.1%

Deere & Company stock opened at $529.78 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $481.74. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $404.42 and a 12 month high of $533.78. The company has a market capitalization of $143.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $12.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.54%. Deere & Company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 35.01%.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 64,578 shares of company stock worth $32,471,682. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & 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.