B&L Asset Management LLC Makes New $2.03 Million Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

B&L Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,034,000. Deere & Company makes up about 1.3% of B&L Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,790,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,248 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,673,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2,068.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 12,533 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,230,000 after buying an additional 11,955 shares in the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,961,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on DE. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $436.41.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $465.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 732,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,519,499. The firm's 50-day moving average is $413.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $388.31. The company has a market cap of $127.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $469.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.65. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.26 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.