KBC Group NV Raises Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,968 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $42,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattern Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,401,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Round Rock Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in Deere & Company by 2.3% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Deere & Company by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE traded up $4.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $398.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,164,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,431,512. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $420.47. The stock has a market cap of $109.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.93. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $403.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) 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 analysts' expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.