Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Trims Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,168,737,000 after purchasing an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after purchasing an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $874,473,000 after purchasing an additional 107,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,994,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,431,000 after purchasing an additional 158,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on DE. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $484.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $131.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $452.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.