Country Trust Bank Sells 1,302 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Country Trust Bank lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 51.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,302 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 316,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $147,303,000 after buying an additional 5,754 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $3,734,000. Finally, Capital Management Associates Inc increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 4,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 2,143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $574.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $585.89 and a 200-day moving average of $513.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $404.42 and a fifty-two week high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on DE. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.95.

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.