First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 357 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.2 %

Deere & Company stock traded down $0.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $386.66. 237,264 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,451,303. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $345.55 and a 52-week high of $450.00. The company has a market capitalization of $107.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $389.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $383.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price objective for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

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.