Hills Bank & Trust Co Has $2.89 Million Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Hills Bank & Trust Co cut its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 309 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 15,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,654,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $949,000. Northcape Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 16.8% during the second quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 5.3% in the second quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 2,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,271,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DE shares. Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $443.00 price objective (up from $439.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $415.50.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE traded up $4.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $381.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,197,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,044. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.01. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $423.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $367.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $379.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.41 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.