First Community Trust NA Increases Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 116.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,983 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,583 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company makes up about 8.8% of First Community Trust NA's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. First Community Trust NA's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $12,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 3,263 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,340 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,929 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,376,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on 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 boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $442.83.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded down $3.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $428.84. 1,432,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,267,156. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $429.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $400.87. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $469.39. The firm has a market cap of $116.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.26 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a positive change from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

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.