London Co. of Virginia Reduces Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

London Co. of Virginia lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 22.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,231 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $6,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its position in Deere & Company by 2.5% in the first quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 3,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 122.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after buying an additional 4,147 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Deere & Company by 6.8% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,781,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Deere & Company by 9.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,173,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Deere & Company by 8.0% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 143,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,061,000 after buying an additional 10,584 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.27% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 2.9 %

DE stock opened at $399.66 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.07. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $328.62 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $417.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $399.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.22 by $1.98. The company had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.14 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 46.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 33.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on DE shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $512.00 to $445.00 in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $493.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 21st. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $492.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $458.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total value of $22,035,331.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,126 shares in the company, valued at $45,398,598.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 4,680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.75, for a total transaction of $2,104,830.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,563 shares in the company, valued at $16,444,209.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total transaction of $22,035,331.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,126 shares in the company, valued at $45,398,598.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes 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 mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, 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.