Deere & Company $DE Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,285 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $16,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter worth $1,578,243,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 573.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 842,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $428,597,000 after acquiring an additional 717,808 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 278.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 487,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,005,000 after acquiring an additional 358,687 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $829,930,000 after purchasing an additional 323,512 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,850,687,000 after purchasing an additional 322,582 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $480.00 to $460.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Deere & Company from $541.00 to $736.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $644.70.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $578.42 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $404.42 and a 12-month high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $156.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $577.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $508.25.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. On average, research 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 Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 36.53%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.