Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,624 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $23,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,920,548,000 after acquiring an additional 65,006 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,650,767,000 after buying an additional 269,571 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Deere & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,061,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,155,430,000 after buying an additional 73,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,539,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $581,052,000 after acquiring an additional 33,946 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.1% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,146,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,561,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.9 %

DE opened at $400.91 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $345.55 and a twelve month high of $450.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $388.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $383.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

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.