Ballast Inc. Raises Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ballast Inc. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after buying an additional 263,709 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,859,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,585,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,200 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,254,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $842,259,000 after buying an additional 60,255 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,037,000 after buying an additional 279,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,470,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $603,854,000 after acquiring an additional 114,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $420.69.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE DE opened at $405.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $420.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $391.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $385.50.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.70%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.