Boston Trust Walden Corp Trims Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 165,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 33,896 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Deere & Company worth $75,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $25,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 57 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John C. May II sold 11,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.08, for a total value of $5,553,888.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 112,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,235,496.24. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $468.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $473.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $484.67. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $403.01 and a twelve month high of $533.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Deere & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $480.00 to $460.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $512.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.70.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.