MML Investors Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,788 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 3,437 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $23,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 265 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 2,235 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 230,652 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,258,000 after buying an additional 63,380 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 45,019 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $17,560,000 after buying an additional 4,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,068,404,000 after buying an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE traded down $5.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $444.13. 1,215,248 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,442,975. 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 has a market cap of $121.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $418.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $390.83. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $469.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on DE shares. HSBC cut shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $443.28.

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.