First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 393 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:DE opened at $362.79 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $353.15 and a 12-month high of $450.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $382.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $386.61.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.59 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.66.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the business’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 transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company 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.