Balentine LLC Makes New $710,000 Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Balentine LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,701 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $9,031,500,000 after purchasing an additional 263,709 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,859,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,585,028,000 after acquiring an additional 19,200 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 60,255 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 15.0% in 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 purchasing 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% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 114,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $5.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $405.71. 1,653,916 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,436,897. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $402.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $385.56. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $420.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $111.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. Deere & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DE shares. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. HSBC downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company 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.