Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $7.45 Million Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Deere & Company were worth $7,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.3% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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. 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 report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, HSBC cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $398.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $404.03 and its 200-day moving average is $385.69. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $420.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $109.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 20.06%.

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.