USS Investment Management Ltd Purchases 1,798 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $23,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DE. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 10,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 30,553 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,047 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,651,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $755,385,000 after buying an additional 115,975 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 145,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,568,000 after buying an additional 9,598 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $672.00 to $607.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $680.00 price target (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Argus lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $639.58.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $633.73 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $576.24 and a 200 day moving average of $560.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $171.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $433.00 and a 12 month high of $674.19.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

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.