Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,616 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 20.5% during the 2nd 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. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 99.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 3,223 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter worth about $1,052,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter worth about $24,984,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 90,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,923,000 after buying an additional 1,963 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HSBC downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $400.42 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $400.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $385.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $420.47.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 20.06%.

Deere & 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.