Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,824,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 55,109 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.68% of Deere & Company worth $834,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at $1,578,243,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Deere & Company by 573.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 842,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $428,597,000 after purchasing an additional 717,808 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 132.0% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 721,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $366,946,000 after purchasing an additional 410,636 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 50,691.9% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 332,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,910,000 after purchasing an additional 331,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,372,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,376,279,000 after buying an additional 309,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $525.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $542.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.20.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of DE opened at $524.44 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $404.42 and a twelve month high of $533.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $485.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $12.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 35.01%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,578 shares of company stock valued at $32,471,682. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.