Foster Group Inc. Purchases 57 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Foster Group Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter worth $32,000. Centennial Bank AR raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 420.0% during the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $480.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $440.14 and a 200-day moving average of $407.30. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $485.84. The stock has a market cap of $130.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.34 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

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.