Symmetry Investments LP Sells 5,894 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Symmetry Investments LP reduced its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,894 shares during the quarter. Symmetry Investments LP’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $4,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 20.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 857.9% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after buying an additional 6,855 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the first quarter worth $2,783,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $405.89 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $417.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $376.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $382.66.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. HSBC cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.88.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.