Markel Group Inc. Acquires 21,550 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Markel Group Inc. lifted its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 845,350 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,550 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company accounts for 3.1% of Markel Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Markel Group Inc. owned 0.31% of Deere & Company worth $315,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 27.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $628,105,000 after buying an additional 31,074 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 857.9% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,654 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,061,000 after acquiring an additional 6,855 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter worth $2,783,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock traded up $6.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $391.95. The company had a trading volume of 2,345,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,536,047. The firm has a market cap of $108.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $423.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $368.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $380.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.20 EPS. The company's revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DE shares. HSBC downgraded Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $443.00 target price (up previously from $439.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $414.11.

About Deere & Company

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.