Nomura Holdings Inc. Decreases Position in Deere & Company $DE

Nomura Holdings Inc. decreased its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 27.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,356 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $4,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 2,750.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 57 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 406.7% in the 2nd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 76 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Deere & Company from $495.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $440.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $523.70.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 11,106 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.08, for a total value of $5,553,888.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 112,453 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,496.24. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE DE opened at $487.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $131.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.00. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $403.01 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $469.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $487.30.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). Deere & Company had a return on equity of 20.54% and a net margin of 11.00%.The company had revenue of $12.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 35.01%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.