Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Purchased by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 11.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 54,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,625,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter worth $101,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter worth $413,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were 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 $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets upped their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $431.14.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $376.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $386.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $387.01. The firm has a market cap of $103.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $353.15 and a 52-week high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

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.