Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 6,518 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 34.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,516 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 6,518 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $10,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,348 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $3,771,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,392 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,250,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,684 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its stake in Deere & Company by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 1,348 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE DE traded down $3.70 on Friday, reaching $476.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,400,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,383,190. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The company's fifty day moving average is $444.09 and its 200 day moving average is $409.10. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $485.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company's payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DE. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $444.50.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.