Massachusetts Wealth Management Grows Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Deere & Company makes up 1.4% of Massachusetts Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1,180.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.6 %

Deere & Company stock traded down $2.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $362.79. The stock had a trading volume of 668,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,634,612. The company has a market capitalization of $99.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $383.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $386.94. Deere & Company has a one year low of $353.15 and a one year high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.86 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.65 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $456.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.