Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Bought by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 869,100 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 23,750 shares during the period. Deere & Company accounts for approximately 3.3% of Markel Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Markel Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Deere & Company worth $362,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,157 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,015 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 10.8% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,116 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.7% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 9,619 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,965,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Pecaut & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Pecaut & CO. now owns 8,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,661,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 35,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,442,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE traded down $17.10 on Friday, hitting $394.06. 1,623,152 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 897,978. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $420.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $107.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50 day moving average price is $403.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $385.69.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. Citigroup upped their target price on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.