Chase Investment Counsel Corp Buys Shares of 3,800 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,413,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,248,036,000. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after acquiring an additional 705,771 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $191,628,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,031,500,000 after purchasing an additional 263,709 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 3,064.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 175,386 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,038,000 after purchasing an additional 169,843 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DE. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $414.11.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock traded down $8.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $383.69. 1,396,977 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,535,234. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $368.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $380.21. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $417.46. The firm has a market cap of $105.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Deere & 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.