Meiji Yasuda America Inc Buys Shares of 5,304 Deere & Company $DE

Meiji Yasuda America Inc bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,988,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,583,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,514,053,000 after purchasing an additional 198,332 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Deere & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,485,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,898,717,000 after buying an additional 97,049 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Deere & Company by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,592,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,465,906,000 after buying an additional 3,358,264 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,692,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,581,574,000 after buying an additional 158,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,600,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,609,149,000 after buying an additional 17,269 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $685.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $642.98.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.4%

Deere & Company stock opened at $588.06 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $433.00 and a 52 week high of $674.19. The stock has a market cap of $158.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $582.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $573.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 10.09%.The business had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.71%.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.