Stockbridge Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 540,874 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company comprises approximately 7.4% of Stockbridge Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Stockbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $369,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 17,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,050,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Deere & Company by 398.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 129,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,366,000 after buying an additional 103,850 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 48,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,000,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 406,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $166,847,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $659,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $466.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $412.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $388.07. The stock has a market cap of $127.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.26 EPS. Research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $436.41.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.