QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 538 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 538 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $12,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 19.8% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 11,052 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in Deere & Company by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,769 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter worth approximately $301,000. Finally, Callan Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 22.8% during the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $401.68 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $420.47. The company has a market cap of $109.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $401.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $385.41.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.20 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 20.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

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.